Former director of the US Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday for improper termination after she was fired earlier this month.

Perlmutter filed her complaint with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that her termination was unconstitutional and cannot take effect. She further asserted that only the US Congress can remove her from her position.

The lawsuit named as defendants Acting Librarian of Congress Todd Blanche, newly appointed Register of Copyrights Paul Perkins, Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor, deputy assistant to Gor in the Presidential Personnel Office Trent Morse, the Executive Office of the President, and President Trump.

Perlmutter’s lawsuit turned on the alleged unconstitutionality of her removal, citing 17 U.S.C. § 701(a) to prove that the power to remove her is vested in Congress, not the president or his executive office. Additionally, the complaint cited 5 U.S.C. § 3345(a), arguing that although Congress has granted the president the power to fill high-level, vacant positions through appointments, this only extends to those in “executive agenc[ies],” under which the Library of Congress does not fall. Perlmutter further said that Robert R. Newland now holds the position as interim principal deputy librarian, according to the rules established by the library under 2 U.S.C. § 136.

The plaintiff’s counsel is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. For the declaratory reliefs, counsel asked the court to declare that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act does not authorize the appointment of a temporary acting librarian of Congress and that Perlmutter remains the register of copyrights and the director of the US Copyright Office. For the injunctive relief, counsel asked the court to prevent Blanche from exercising any powers of the librarian of Congress and prevent Perlmutter from being removed from her office.

Perlmutter’s directorial position fell under the Library of Congress because her role was to register copyright claims and inform Congress about copyright policies. The Trump administration also fired the then-Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who appointed Perlmutter in 2020. Blanche was then appointed as the acting Librarian of Congress earlier in May, while already serving the role as the deputy attorney general of the United States. The lawsuit also named Paul Perkins since he has been tapped to replace Perlmutter as the director of the Copyright Office.