WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.

Hayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden, the longtime leader of Baltimore’s library system, was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.

“Carla,” the email began. “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.” A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.

Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that accused her and other library leaders of promoting children’s books with “radical” content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.

“The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids,” the group, American Accountability Foundation, said on its X account earlier Thursday, just hours before the firing was made public. “It’s time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!”

The Library of Congress makes available to lawmakers and the public its vast array of historical documents, such as the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices. It also holds collections of rare books, prints and photographs, as well as valuable artifacts — like a flute owned by President James Madison, which the singer and rapper Lizzo played in a 2022 performance arranged by Hayden.

The unexpected move by Trump infuriated congressional Democrats, who initially disclosed the firing.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Hayden was “callously fired” by Trump and demanded an explanation from the administration as to why she was dismissed.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., applauded Hayden as “an accomplished, principled and distinguished Librarian of Congress.”

“Donald Trump’s unjust decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock,” Jeffries said. “The Library of Congress is the People’s Library. There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later.”

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees funding for the library, said the firing, which he said came at 6:56 p.m., was “taking his assault on America’s libraries to a new level.”

While 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,” Heinrich added.

Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian, said he would serve as acting librarian of Congress “until further instruction” in a separate email seen by the AP.

“I promise to keep everyone informed,” he wrote to colleagues.

At a gala Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked that he has assumed three other positions in the Trump administration as national security adviser, acting archivist and acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development. During his remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute event, he said leading the Library of Congress “would be a good job,” then paused and jokingly proposed Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart for the position.

“You know what would be good? Library of Congress. That would be a good job,” Rubio said. “Acting librarian Mario Diaz-Balart. Do you want it?”