President Donald Trump Fires Top Copyright Official

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s administration dismissed the nation’s top copyright official just days after removing the Librarian of Congress. Shira Perlmutter, who led the U.S. Copyright Office—an agency under the Library of Congress—was abruptly terminated. The U.S. Copyright Office informed reporters that Perlmutter had received an email from the White House stating, “Your position as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office is terminated, effective immediately.”

The move follows the earlier dismissal of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Both Hayden and Perlmutter were informed of their dismissals via email. Hayden had appointed Perlmutter to head the Copyright Office in October 2020. The actions are viewed as part of the administration’s broader effort to replace officials perceived as resistant to the president’s agenda. The Copyright Office handles registration of copyrights, administration of copyright law, and policy recommendations on intellectual property matters. The Librarian of Congress oversees the Library of Congress, which serves as the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and houses the Copyright Office.

The firings have drawn attention to the administration’s approach to personnel changes across federal agencies and cultural institutions. Officials have not provided detailed public explanations for the specific terminations beyond the standard notification language. The developments occur amid ongoing discussions about the role of independent agencies and the balance between executive authority and institutional continuity.

Separately, federal prosecutors announced charges against a former USAID employee accused of creating a fictitious company to illegally obtain coronavirus relief funds for personal gain. Yusuf Akoll, who worked as a Senior Procurement Contract Specialist at the U.S. Agency for International Development, was charged with making materially false statements that resulted in two Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling approximately $16,666. Prosecutors allege that Akoll registered Naagode Consulting LLC in Virginia in November 2020 and applied for the loans, falsely claiming the company was operational as of February 2020 and had earned income in 2019 despite having none.

The case highlights issues with oversight during the rapid distribution of pandemic relief funds under the “pay and chase” model, where the government prioritized quick disbursement with the expectation that fraudulent claims would be addressed later. The Biden administration largely abandoned efforts to recover smaller loans, citing equity concerns. USAID was shut down earlier this year, with remaining functions absorbed into the State Department amid Republican concerns over financial mismanagement. Akoll had oversight of hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding directed to foreign countries, money that was often difficult to track.

The Department of Government Efficiency has focused on addressing such oversight gaps as a core part of its mission. The agency reported that more than 527,000 people have been deported since Trump took office on January 20, 2025, with 1.6 million voluntary departures out of approximately 2 million total departures. Officials expect these numbers to increase with additional funding and resources.

The personnel changes at the Copyright Office and Library of Congress, combined with the fraud case at USAID, reflect the administration’s emphasis on accountability and alignment with executive priorities across federal institutions. No further details on the specific reasons for the dismissals of Hayden and Perlmutter have been released by the White House. The developments are likely to generate continued discussion about the balance between institutional independence and presidential authority in shaping the federal workforce.