One year after President Donald Trump fired the librarian of Congress, support is growing for a bill that would prevent it from happening again.
The heads of both the Library of Congress and the Government Publishing Office should be appointed not by the president but by a congressional commission, lawmakers on the House Administration Committee agreed Thursday.
The panel easily advanced, 11-0, a proposal that would make that switch while also overhauling the U.S. Copyright Office.
While the unexpected firing of Librarian Carla Hayden last May caused an uproar, Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said he was taking a longer view.
“I feel like doing that disclaimer at the end of a movie: This has nothing to do with any current or former librarians of Congress, or any current or former members of the White House,” said Griffith, the lead sponsor of the bill.
