Officials Are Denied Access to Library of Congress After Trump Names New Boss

Politics|Officials Are Denied Access to Library of Congress After Trump Names New Boss

Staff members at the Library of Congress denied access on Monday to two Justice Department officials who had been tapped for top positions there as part of a shake-up initiated by President Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation. The lockout led to a brief standoff on Capitol Hill.

The episode at the library, an agency of the legislative branch, became the latest tension point in a battle over where Congress’s authority ends and the White House’s begins. The people who described it did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.

It unfolded after Mr. Trump on Monday named Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, who was the lead defense lawyer in his criminal trial in Manhattan last year, to be librarian of Congress, succeeding Carla Hayden, whom Mr. Trump abruptly fired last week. The post is a presidential appointment, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Around 9 a.m., two Justice Department officials arrived at the library’s headquarters across from the Capitol and sought access to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is housed there. They brought a letter from the White House declaring that Mr. Blanche was the acting librarian and that the two men would be serving in top roles at the agency.

Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general, would serve as acting register of copyrights and director of the Copyright Office, the letter said, and Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior policy counsel, would be the acting deputy librarian. Mr. Trump fired the previous director of the Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, over the weekend, one of the people said.

Staff members at the library called the U.S. Capitol Police as well as their general counsel, Meg Williams, who told the men they were not allowed access to the Copyright Office and asked them to leave, one of the people said.