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The ex- president's administration on Monday requested the US Supreme Court to allow the removal of the head of the American copyright authority.

This urgent appeal follows roughly six weeks after a national appellate court in Washington decided that the director, Shira Perlmutter, could not be unilaterally fired.

Almost four weeks prior, the full District of Columbia circuit court declined to reconsider that ruling.

This case is the latest in a series of cases related to executive power to place chosen heads at government offices.

The High Court has mostly permitted such actions, even as legal challenges proceed.

However, this specific case involves an office inside the Library of Congress. Perlmutter serves as the register of copyrights and also counsels the legislature on copyright issues.

The government's top lawyer, D John Sauer, stated in the legal document that, regardless of connections to Congress, the director “exercises administrative power” in overseeing copyrights.

Perlmutter alleges she was terminated in May because the former president disapproved with advice she provided to Congress in a document related to artificial intelligence.

She reportedly got an email from the White House notifying her that her role was “terminated effective at once,” as stated by her office.

A split appeals court panel ruled that Perlmutter could keep her job while the legal dispute proceeds.

“The Executive's claimed obvious interference with the duties of a Legislative Branch officer, as she performs statutorily approved responsibilities to counsel the legislature, strikes us as a breach of the division of government authority,” wrote Judge Florence Pan for the appellate panel.

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

In opposition, Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, wrote that Perlmutter “exercises administrative power in a host of ways.”

Perlmutter's lawyers have argued that she is a renowned intellectual property specialist. She has acted as copyright director since ex- head librarian Carla Hayden selected her to the position in October 2020.

The ex-leader named deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to replace Hayden at the Library of Congress. The administration had dismissed Hayden following criticism from right-leaning groups that she was promoting a “progressive” program.