The dismissal of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has triggered a group of Democratic lawmakers to request an investigation of potential improper communication between the Library of Congress and the executive branch.

“The abrupt firing of Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden raises serious concerns that the executive branch is improperly targeting the Library and its employees with adverse employment actions and inappropriate requests for information including, but not limited to, confidential communications between congressional offices and the Library’s various service units,” said a congressional letter obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

The request was made to Library of Congress Inspector General Kimberly Benoit. House Administration Committee Ranking Member Joe Morelle of New York led the letter, which was joined by Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Adriano Espaillat, Terri Sewell, Norma Torres, and Julie Johnson. The House Administration Committee oversees the Library.

Hayden was dismissed from her position on Thursday via a short email on behalf of President Donald Trump. Trump named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian on Monday. Blanche defended Trump during his New York hush money trial last spring.

The letter requests that Benoit investigate whether the Department of Government Efficiency or others within the executive branch tried to obtain library data. It specifically asks about communications between the Congressional Research Service and congressional offices.

CRS is a research service for Congress that operates within the Library.

It also requests that Benoit investigate whether the executive branch instructed library staff to modify information-sharing practices, whether executive branch officials have tried to circumvent current communication protocols, and “any other potentially illegal or inappropriate actions by the executive branch that you discover as part of your investigatory efforts.”

Hayden led the Library of Congress after being appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016. She was confirmed by the Senate in bipartisan fashion and served under Trump during his first administration.

The librarian of Congress is typically bipartisan, somewhat separated from partisan politics. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the firing on Friday.

“We felt she did not fit the needs of the American people,” Leavitt said during a news conference. “There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the Library for children. And we don’t believe that she was serving the interest of the American taxpayer well.”

Leavitt did not cite specific examples of books placed at the Library or how Hayden had pursued diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives during her time as librarian. However, her answer echoes the claims made by the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative group that ran a social media campaign to get Hayden fired earlier this month.

The campaign attacked Hayden for allowing pop recording artist Lizzo to play a historic crystal flute during a concert. The flute was a gift to President James Madison. It is under the Library’s supervision and had never been publicly performed with.

The group also accused Hayden of using the library to promote children’s access to books on “radical gender identity,” though it did not cite specific books.

Hayden was the first woman and Black person to serve as librarian of Congress. She previously worked at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

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