(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski for AFP)
President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden has drawn fierce criticism, with author George Saunders calling the move “diabolical” in a blistering op-ed for The New York Times.
Dr. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the position, was abruptly dismissed as part of what many see as Trump’s ongoing effort to purge public institutions of career professionals and install loyalists. But according to Saunders, the administration’s justification for her removal was not just vague it was absurd.
Saunders, who won the Library of Congress’ Prize for American Fiction two years ago, reflected on his interactions with Hayden. “She struck me then as energetic, engaged and utterly dedicated to the work of the library,” he wrote. “One of the things Dr. Hayden and I bonded over was the idea that knowledge is power, that in a democracy, the more we know, the better we are.”
The White House first claimed it wasn’t even aware of Hayden’s role, before eventually alleging that in her pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), she had done “quite concerning things.” But Saunders noted that officials never clarified what those things were.
“The White House, tossing out nonsense from its meager box of repetitive right-wing auto-defenses, claimed on Friday that Dr. Hayden had, ‘in the pursuit of D.E.I.,’ done ‘quite concerning things,’” Saunders wrote. “It couldn’t have. Putting aside the basic idiocy of being against that position… members of the administration now use ‘D.E.I.’ as a sort of omni-pejorative, deliberately leaving its exact meaning vague.”
One specific accusation was that she allowed “inappropriate books for children” into the Library of Congress a claim Saunders flatly dismissed as ignorant fear-mongering. “The librarian of Congress doesn’t put books into the library,” he wrote. “And presumably, the American people benefit from having access to the widest possible collection of books.”
In Saunders’ view, the firing of Dr. Hayden is not just about politics it’s about dismantling institutions that uphold truth, knowledge, and democratic values. “Shame on all of us if we let these ignorant purveyors of cruelty reduce this beautiful thing we’ve built over these hundreds of years to a hollow, braying, anti-version of itself,” he warned.
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