The Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to allow it to remove the head of the US Copyright Office

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to fire the director of the U.S. Copyright Office.

The administration’s latest emergency appeal was filed with the Supreme Court a month and a half after a federal appeals court in Washington ruled that the official, Shira Perlmutter, could not be unilaterally fired.

Nearly four weeks ago, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to review that ruling.

This case is the latest to relate to Trump’s authority to install his own individuals at the head of federal agencies. The Supreme Court has largely allowed Trump to fire officials, even as court challenges continue.

But this case concerns an office located within the Library of Congress. Perlmutter is a copyright registry and also advises Congress on copyright issues.

The Attorney General, Dr. John Sawyer said in his filing on Monday that despite ties to Congress, the registry “exercises executive authority” in regulating copyright.

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Perlmutter alleges that Trump fired her in May because he disagreed with advice she provided to Congress in a report on artificial intelligence. Perlmutter received an email from the White House notifying her that “your position as Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office has been terminated effective immediately,” her office said.

A divided appeals panel ruled that Perlmutter could keep her job while the case moves forward.

“The alleged blatant interference of the executive branch with the action of an official of the legislative branch, while performing statutorily authorized duties to advise Congress, appears to us to be a violation of the separation of powers that differs significantly in kind and degree from the issues brought before it,” Justice Florence Pan wrote for the appeals court. Judge Michelle Childs joined the opinion. Democratic President Joe Biden appointed the two judges to the Court of Appeals.

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Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, wrote in dissent that Perlmutter “exercises executive authority in a number of ways.”

Perlmutter’s lawyers argued that she is a renowned expert in the field of copyright. She has served as the Register of Copyrights since then-Library of Congress Carla Hayden appointed her to the position in October 2020.

Trump appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to replace Hayden at the Library of Congress. The White House fired Hayden amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda.