by Dennis Crouch
In an emergency shadow docket application filed late last month, the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to stay a D.C. Circuit injunction that allows Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter to continue serving in her position. The dispute centers on the separation of powers question:
Is the Library of Congress an "Executive agency" subject to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), or did Congress deliberately exclude it from that category (and does Congress even have that power)?
The answer will determine whether President Trump install an acting Librarian who can then remove the Register—or whether only a Senate-confirmed Librarian possesses that authority. Blanche v. Perlmutter, No. 25A478 (Supreme Court Application filed Oct. 2025). For me, the case boils down to a question of whether we are ready to further enlarge our unitary executive scheme that is currently playing out.
- Brief: Blanche v. Perlmutter Application
- Brief: Opposition to Application to Stay
- Brief: Thaler Ltr to U.S. Supreme Court Requesting Hold
- Dennis Crouch, Perlmutter v. Trump: Does the President Control the Copyright Office?, Patently-O (May 2025)
- Dennis Crouch, Shira Perlmutter is (Temporarily) Back in Charge at Copyright Office, Patently-O (Sept 2025)
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