The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to let Donald Trump remove the government’s top copyright official, Shira Perlmutter, from her position. The court’s decision allows Perlmutter to remain in her position while her legal challenge to her removal proceeds.

Background

Perlmutter was notified in May 2025 by a Trump administration official that she had been fired. Her duties as the government’s top copyright official have included serving as Congress’ primary adviser on copyright issues. Trump’s move to terminate Perlmutter came a day after her office circulated a report finding that some unauthorized uses of copyrighted works carried out by tech firms to train generative artificial intelligence systems may be unlawful.

Perlmutter sued to block her firing, arguing that Trump lacked the authority to appoint Todd Blanche, his former criminal defense attorney and current acting U.S. attorney general, as acting Librarian of Congress. The U.S. Constitution divides the powers of the U.S. government among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Court Rulings

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, initially rejected Perlmutter’s request to preliminarily block her firing. However, on appeal, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated Perlmutter while her case continued to play out.

Judge Florence Pan, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, wrote that Trump’s purported ouster of Perlmutter amounted to an ‘attempt to reach into the legislative branch to fire an official that he has no statutory authority to either appoint or remove.’ The Supreme Court’s decision not to lift the lower court’s ruling means that Perlmutter will remain in her position for the time being.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.