[ghewgill]

Do you believe that the Library of Congress is immune from the current administration's information purge?

[lukas099]

Well, it is called the Library of Congress; is it not under the control of the Legislative?

[dataflow]

Does it matter?

Hypothetical question: imagine the president ordered troops to evacuate the library and then burn it down. Who exactly would be held accountable, and how?

[sharkjacobs]

I think that the answer is yes, but, it seems like the current administration is trying to push against the boundaries of what they are and aren’t allowed to do, and it’s not clear where they will and won’t find pushback.

[pstuart]

All three branches of the Federal Government are now owned by one man.

[nxobject]

You're right – we'll see what the Republican majorities in Congress decide to do. You'd hope they wouldn't trample over the Congressional Research Service (of the LoC), but given the level of political debate I think it was getting short shrift already.

[Volundr]

The power of the purse is explicitly under the pervue of the Legislative per the constitution. The executive does not have the discretion to not spend or redirect funds assigned by Congress (there's some interesting history with Nixon on that if one is interested), yet this administration doesn't seem to see that as a barrier.

[scarface_74]

You mean like the law that was passed overwhelmingly by Congress banning TikTok that Trump told businesses to ignore or do yoh mean like unilaterally trying to block all spending when that is suppose to be controlled by Congress?

Congress is letting the President take their power. Even Republicans in 2016-2020 wouldn’t have done that.

[borski]

The library's functions are overseen by the librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the architect of the Capitol. The librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years.

So yeah, Trump could fire the librarian.

Interestingly, the head of the Architect of the Capitol is appointed by a vote of a congressional commission for a ten-year term. Prior to 2024, the president of the United States appointed the Architect upon confirmation vote by the United States Senate, and was accountable to the president.