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The ex- leader's administration on Monday requested the nation's highest court to allow the removal of the head of the American copyright authority.

This urgent appeal follows about a month and a half after a federal appeals court in Washington decided that the official, Shira Perlmutter, cannot be solely dismissed.

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

This legal matter is the most recent in a line of cases related to executive power to appoint preferred heads at federal offices.

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

However, this particular case concerns an office inside the national library. Perlmutter serves as the register of copyrights and also counsels Congress on copyright matters.

The solicitor general, D John Sauer, argued in the filing that, regardless of connections to the legislative branch, the register “wields administrative authority” in overseeing intellectual property rights.

Perlmutter claims she was fired in May because the former president disapproved with advice she gave to Congress in a report concerning artificial intelligence.

She allegedly got an email from the White House informing her that her position was “ended starting immediately,” according to her staff.

A divided appeals court panel decided that Perlmutter could retain her job while the legal dispute moves forward.

“The Executive's claimed obvious interference with the work of a congressional official, as she carries out legally approved duties to counsel the legislature, appears to be a breach of the division of government authority,” stated Justice Florence Pan for the appeals court.

Justice J Michelle Childs supported the opinion. Both judges were nominated to the appellate court by Democratic President Joe Biden.

In opposition, Justice Justin Walker, a former president's nominee, wrote that Perlmutter “exercises executive authority in a host of ways.”

Perlmutter's lawyers have argued that she is a renowned copyright expert. She has served as register of copyrights since ex- head librarian Carla Hayden selected her to the position in October 2020.

The ex-leader named deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to succeed Hayden at the Library of Congress. The White House had dismissed Hayden amid complaints from right-leaning groups that she was promoting a “woke” program.