Longtime Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was abruptly fired by President Donald Trump amid the administration’s efforts to purge federal employees whom they believe oppose their agenda.
On Thursday (May 8), Hayden was informed via an email from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office that she had been terminated from her position, per NPR.
“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,” the email read.
Hayden, who was confirmed by the Senate in 2016, was the first woman and the first African American to become the head of the Library of Congress, which holds a vast collection of the nation’s books, history, and valuable artifacts. Her firing came amid backlash from the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a conservative advocacy group that accused Hayden and other library officials of promoting books with “radical content” and material authored by Trump opponents.
“The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids,” AAF wrote on X, just hours before news of Hayden’s firing went public. “It’s time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!”
The abrupt firing on Thursday sparked outrage from congressional Democrats.
“Enough is enough,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, noting Hayden was “a trailblazer, a scholar, and a public servant of the highest order.”
“Hayden, has spent her entire career serving people — from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation’s most precious treasures,” New York Rep. Joseph Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library, said. “She is an American hero.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised 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.”
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