WASHINGTON – The sudden firing of the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, the first African American and woman to hold the role, was met with an outcry from Democrats.
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. She was confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016 and her term was set to expire next year.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell said the move by President Trump was “the latest in his ongoing attempt to whitewash our history and replace dedicated public servants with loyal sycophants.”
“Dr. Carla Hayden is an extraordinary public servant, revered by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress,” Sewell (D-Birmingham), a member of the Committee on House Administration, said in a statement. “As the People’s Librarian, she has championed efforts to modernize the Library of Congress and ensure that its contents are accessible to all Americans.
“And through her historic tenure as the first African American and first woman to hold this role, she has blazed trails for generations of aspiring scholars.”
During National Library Week last month, Hayden posted on X how libraries changed her own life, and opened her to the world.
Happy National Library Week!#NationalLibraryWeek pic.twitter.com/2oxmShXZBJ
— Carla Hayden (@LibnOfCongress) April 7, 2025
The Library of Congress holds a vast collection of the nation’s books and history, which it makes available to the public and lawmakers. It houses the papers of nearly two dozen presidents and more than three dozen Supreme Court justices.
“President Trump’s abrupt firing of Dr. Hayden is not only an affront to her years of patriotic service, but a direct attack on the independence of a treasured American institution charged with documenting and preserving our American story,” Sewell said. “It is just the latest in his ongoing attempt to whitewash our history and replace dedicated public servants with loyal sycophants.
“Democrats and Republicans in Congress should join together and call this out for what it is— a disgrace.”
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our email newsletter to have all our smart stories delivered to your inbox.
