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The former leader's government on Monday petitioned the US Supreme Court to permit the removal of the director of the US Copyright Office.

This emergency appeal follows roughly six weeks after a federal appellate court in Washington decided that the official, Shira Perlmutter, cannot be unilaterally fired.

Nearly four weeks ago, the entire District of Columbia circuit court declined to review that decision.

This case is the most recent in a line of disputes related to presidential authority to place chosen leaders at federal offices.

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

However, this specific matter involves an office inside the national library. Perlmutter serves as the register of copyrights and also counsels Congress on intellectual property matters.

The government's top lawyer, D John Sauer, argued in the filing that, regardless of ties to the legislative branch, the register “wields executive power” in overseeing intellectual property rights.

Perlmutter alleges she was terminated in May because the ex-leader disapproved with advice she provided to lawmakers in a document concerning AI.

She allegedly got an message from the White House notifying her that her position was “ended starting immediately,” as stated by her staff.

A divided appeals court group decided that Perlmutter could keep her position while the legal dispute proceeds.

“The administration's alleged obvious meddling with the work of a Legislative Branch official, as she carries out statutorily authorized duties to counsel the legislature, strikes us as a violation of the division of government authority,” stated Justice Florence Pan for the appellate panel.

Judge J Michelle Childs supported the opinion. Both justices were nominated to the appellate court by Democrat President Joe Biden.

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

Perlmutter's lawyers have contended that she is a renowned copyright specialist. She has served as copyright director since former librarian of Congress Carla Hayden selected her to the role in October 2020.

The former president appointed deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to succeed Hayden at the national library. The administration had fired Hayden following criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “progressive” program.