White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Carla Hayden was fired as librarian of Congress because she promoted DEI and pushed “inappropriate books” for children.
Democrats condemned the administration for firing Ms. Hayden, who was the first woman and first African American to hold the post in the institution’s 225-year history.
“We felt she did not fit the needs of the American people,” Ms. Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.”
“And we don’t believe that she was serving the interests of the American taxpayer well. So, she has been removed from her position, and the President is well within his rights to do that.”
Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, was appointed to the job by President Obama in 2016.
Mr. Trump fired Ms. Hayden on Thursday in a two-sentence email.
In the email, Trent Morse, the deputy director of presidential personnel, wrote: “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.”
Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has oversight of the Library of Congress, said Mr. Trump “fired a patriotic public servant.”
“The Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, has spent her entire career serving people — from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation’s most precious treasures. She is an American hero,” Mr. Morelle said.
He called the action an “ignorant decision” that “will impact America’s libraries, our copyrighted economic interests, and service to the American people by threatening support for Congress.”
The New York lawmaker promised to introduce legislation to “guarantee that the Librarian of Congress is appointed by Congress.”
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York called Ms. Hayden’s dismissal part of Mr. Trump’s “relentless campaign to dismantle the guardrails of our democracy and punish public servants who don’t bend to his every will.”
However, conservatives celebrated Ms. Hayden’s firing, including right-wing non-profit the American Accountability Foundation, which described Ms. Hayden as “woke.”
“THANK YOU @POTUS !!!! Woke & radical Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has been fired,” the organization’s account said on social media.
In 2022, Ms. Hayden allowed singer and flutist Lizzo to play President James Madison’s 200-year-old crystal flute onstage at her Washington, DC, concert, which upset some conservatives.
Ms. Hayden was the first librarian of Congress without a lifetime appointment, as Mr. Obama signed legislation in 2015 to set a 10-year term for the job. Before becoming Librarian of Congress, she was the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
