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The former leader's administration on Monday requested the US Supreme Court to allow the termination of the head of the US Copyright Office.

This emergency request comes roughly six weeks after a national appeals court in Washington decided that the official, Shira Perlmutter, could not be solely fired.

Almost one month ago, the full District of Columbia circuit court refused to review that decision.

This legal matter is the latest in a line of disputes concerning presidential power to appoint preferred heads at government agencies.

The Supreme Court has mostly allowed such actions, even as legal challenges proceed.

However, this particular case concerns an office inside the national library. Perlmutter serves as the register of copyrights and also advises Congress on intellectual property issues.

The solicitor general, D John Sauer, argued in the filing that, regardless of ties to Congress, the register “exercises executive power” in overseeing copyrights.

Perlmutter alleges she was fired in May because the ex-leader disagreed with recommendations she provided to Congress in a report related to AI.

She reportedly got an message from the administration notifying her that her role was “ended effective at once,” according to her staff.

A divided appeals court panel ruled that Perlmutter could keep her position while the case proceeds.

“The Executive's claimed obvious meddling with the duties of a congressional officer, as she performs legally approved duties to advise Congress, appears to be a breach of the division of government authority,” stated Justice Florence Pan for the appellate panel.

Judge J Michelle Childs supported the ruling. Both judges were appointed to the appeals court by Democratic President Joe Biden.

In opposition, Justice Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, wrote that Perlmutter “exercises administrative authority in a host of manners.”

Perlmutter's attorneys have argued that she is a well-known copyright expert. She has acted as register of copyrights since former librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed her to the position in October 2020.

The former president appointed deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to succeed Hayden at the Library of Congress. The White House had dismissed Hayden amid criticism from conservatives that she was promoting a “woke” agenda.