President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow him to move ahead with high-profile firings of the register of copyrights, saying a lower court’s blockade tramples on his presidential powers.
Mr. Trump in May fired the librarian of Congress, installed his own pick as acting librarian, then had that person fire Shira Perlmutter, the register, who reports to the librarian.
Ms. Perlmutter, though, says Mr. Trump’s pick was never properly installed as librarian, so his actions — including her firing — are illegal.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer, though, said that despite its name, the Library of Congress acts as an executive agency, which means the president must have wide-ranging powers to oust its personnel and pick acting personnel.
“As the D.C. Circuit and other courts have recognized in previous cases, the librarian and register are part of the Executive Branch,” Mr. Sauer said.
The register processes copyright registrations, interprets copyright law and issues regulations.
Mr. Sauer said the register has also taken a larger role in international negotiations with foreign governments over international copyright issues.
The case is the latest in a string of presidential firings to reach the justices. They have largely been permissive in allowing him to carry out the firings while cases proceed in lower courts.
The one exception was his attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The justices have agreed to hear that case and another firing involving a member of the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC case is similar to Ms. Perlmutter’s in that it goes to questions of so-called independent agencies and how much control a president has over their leadership.
A district judge ruled in favor of the president but the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 2-1 ruling, sided with Ms. Perlmutter.
Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, said Ms. Perlmutter is an officer of Congress, and she also said Mr. Trump seems to have fired her chiefly because he disagreed with a report she delivered on artificial intelligence.
“If those facts are proven true, that would be a grave intrusion by the president into the constitutional powers of a coordinate branch of government,” she wrote.
