Trump's firing of Hayden brings culture wars to the Library of Congress

Republicans have waged a yearslong battle against cultural institutions. It reached an abrupt zenith on Thursday night.

President Donald Trump’s firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday marked the arrival of the conservative culture wars to the world’s largest library. At its core was the intersection of Trump administration priorities — an eradication of any semblance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the federal government and an axing of those seen as potentially disloyal to the president — with the grassroots movement to stunt perceived progressive ideology in the nation’s libraries.

Hayden had the misfortune of representing both.

When she was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2016, she became both the first woman and Black person to lead the library. Hayden moved from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, where she had worked since 1993. She received bipartisan support during her Senate confirmation, but some conservatives were unhappy with her appointment.

She served through Trump’s first administration, and her tenure as librarian was broadly celebrated by both sides. But decisions in recent years, as well as past donations to Democratic political candidates, kept her and the library in the crosshairs of a faction of hardline conservatives. That made Thursday’s announcement unexpected but not entirely unanticipated. In fact, it was unknowingly foreshadowed earlier this week.

For months, the Trump administration has bounced from agency to agency, implementing cuts to DEI and perceived “woke” initiatives. During a House Administration Committee hearing on Tuesday, ranking member Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat, worried that the Library of Congress would be next.

“The current administration, by virtually every measure, has declared war on cultural institutions, libraries and museums, chief among them,” Morelle said during the hearing. “It doesn’t take much imagination to see the Library of Congress next in the crosshairs, and I’m very concerned about it.”

The House Administration Committee oversees the Library of Congress.

Earlier this month, the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative research group, started a social media campaign to get Trump to fire Hayden.

Tom Jones, the group’s president, said at the time that the administration needed to dismiss Hayden and “return an America First agenda to the nation’s intellectual property regulation,” according to the Daily Mail.

The group took issue with Hayden’s previous donations to Obama and other Democratic candidates. Hayden also allowed the pop singer Lizzo to play a historic crystal flute that belonged to President James Madison during a concert in 2022, further drawing the ire of conservatives. A series of social media posts followed the group’s announcement. The final one celebrated her dismissal.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Hayden’s firing or the influence of AAF’s campaign.

Olszewski fights for reinstatement

Morelle plans to introduce legislation that would move the appointment of librarians of Congress under the purview of Congress. Rep. Johnny Olszewski is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

“We will continue to resist President Trump’s outrageous attack on our democratic norms and basic decency in Congress, the courts and in the community,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Baltimore County Democrat, told The Sun in a statement. “In the case of Dr. Hayden, if she intends to seek reinstatement, we will do whatever we can to support her efforts. We will also be cosponsoring legislation to give Congress the explicit hiring and firing authority over the nation’s library.”

Hayden has not publicly commented on her dismissal.

Before being appointed to her role as the 14th Librarian of Congress, Hayden served as CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library from 1993 to 2016. Upon her recent termination, the library voiced support for its former executive, calling her “(a) visionary leader and tireless advocate for equity in access to information” in a news release signed by current CEO Chad Helton and Board of Directors Chair Chris Espenshade.

“Her tenure at the Library of Congress has been marked by expanded public access, modernization, and a commitment to making one of the nation’s most treasured institutions more inclusive and accessible,” the release said.

Hayden has worked closely with Orioles owner David Rubenstein, who grew up in Baltimore, on efforts to boost literacy and other projects. Rubenstein was unavailable for comment on her firing on Friday, a spokesperson said.

Libraries caught in crosshairs of cultural debate

Libraries across the country — from local public libraries to the Library of Congress — have found themselves in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s anti-DEI regime.

“What’s different about today’s day and age is these efforts from fringe groups have been enabled, empowered and emboldened,” Skip Auld, CEO of Anne Arundel County Public Library said. “Libraries are places of free and open access to all the world’s knowledge. These attacks have become intensified.”

In March, Anne Arundel County Public Library was criticized for hosting an LGBTQ+ event for National Transgender Day of Visibility.

The event, one of more than 6,000 held across the county’s library system each year, drew criticism from across the state and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican who represents the Eastern Shore.

Harris said taxpayer dollars and federal funding should not support such events or the institutions hosting them. In an X post, he called for re-examining federal support for libraries and later told The Sun that the federal government should withhold tax dollars until lawmakers ensure recipients are not promoting LGBTQ+ events.

“If the Anne Arundel County Public Library insists on programming like this, then my position would be that they shouldn’t receive any federal taxpayer dollars,” Harris told The Sun. “If they want to do this with state dollars, they want to do this with local dollars, that’s the business of the state or Anne Arundel County. But I would object, as the majority of American taxpayers would, to the use of federal tax dollars for an entity that runs this kind of programming.”

The library receives about $25,000 in federal funding per year, according to the library’s director of marketing and communications, Christine Feldmann, none of which contributed to the event.

Days later, the Trans Pride Party drew 30 members of the Maryland Republican Party to the Glen Burnie Library in protest of what they called “grooming.” They were met with roughly 100 counter-protesters.

Auld, a friend of Hayden’s for more than 30 years, called her sudden termination “a casualty of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle all cultural institutions” that are trying to educate and provide safe spaces.

Nearly 250,000 people attended Anne Arundel County Library’s 6,781 programs hosted in fiscal year 2024. In a county of about 600,000 residents, nearly 280,000 people own a library card, Auld said.

The United States Naval Academy Nimitz Library, which serves the 4,400 Midshipmen on campus, has also been involved in a DEI battle.

The Annapolis military school released a list of 381 books and literary works last month that were removed from its library as part of a review of diversity, equity and inclusion materials. The review followed directives from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office to evaluate and eliminate works focused on DEI.

Some titles included “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, “White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America” by Anthea Butler, “Writing/teaching: Essays Toward a Rhetoric of Pedagogy” by Paul Kameen, and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Literarian Award recipient Maya Angelou.

Naval Academy Public Affairs did not respond for comment.

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Jeff Barker contributed to this report.

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