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President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill.
Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be Librarian of Congress.
A spokesperson for the library told The Hill in an email that “Tonight, the White House informed Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden that she has been relieved of her position.”
Democrats in Congress condemned the decision by the administration.
“Over the course of her tenure, Dr. Hayden brought the Library of Congress to the people, with initiatives that reached into rural communities and made the Library accessible to all Americans, in person and online,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in a statement on Thursday.
“While President Trump wants to ban books and tell Americans what to read – or not to read at all, Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone,” the Democratic senator added. “Be like Dr. Hayden.”
In the press release, Heinrich also shared a copy of the email Hayden received at 6:56 p.m. informing her of the termination.
“Carla, On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” wrote Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse.
Hayden, who was confirmed to lead the world’s largest library in 2016, faced scrutiny from a conservative nonprofit, American Accountability Foundation (AAF), that called for her ouster.
“The President and his team have done an admirable and long-needed job cleaning out deep state liberals from the federal government. It is time they show Carla Hayden and Shira Perlmutter the door and return an America First agenda to the nation’s intellectual property regulation,” AAF’s president, Tom Jones, told The Daily Mail in late April.
Hayden, who was nominated by former President Obama, was confirmed by the Senate with a 74-18 vote in 2016. Her 10-year term was set to expire next year.
