Trump Fires Librarian Of Congress Carla Hayden—This Was Her Statement At Tuesday Senate Hearing

Forbes Breaking News

At Tuesday's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, now former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden gave her opening statement; late Thursday night, President Trump fired her.

Transcript

00:00Ms. Hayden, if you want to start.

00:03Thank you, Chairman Mullen, Ranking Member Heinrich,

00:07and this is an opportunity to provide testimony

00:11in support of the Library's Fiscal 2026 Budget Request.

00:15The mission of the Library is to engage, inspire,

00:18and inform the Congress and the American people

00:21with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.

00:26Above all, the Library exists to serve.

00:28Service to Congress remains the foundation

00:31for the Library's mission every day

00:33with analysis, policy consultations, briefings,

00:37programs, and constituent engagement.

00:39I'd like to express my sincere gratitude

00:41for the ongoing and extraordinary support

00:44that this committee and Congress gives to the Library.

00:47I especially appreciate the funding you have provided

00:50for major information, technology, IT investments

00:54that we are implementing and continuously improving

00:57to meet user expectations for greater access

01:00and new and enhanced tools.

01:03Also, special thanks for your continued support

01:06for the Library's Visitor Experience Initiative,

01:10the Library's Treasurer's Gallery,

01:11open to the public in June of 2024,

01:13and we're excited to open the Library's new Education Center,

01:17The Source, by the end of 2025,

01:20in time for the Nation's America 250 celebrations,

01:24and I'm pleased to report that construction

01:27and fabrication for the Orientation Gallery,

01:29the third element, is now underway, too.

01:34Staff are the heart of the Library of Congress,

01:36bringing unparalleled knowledge, expertise,

01:38and experience to bear for the benefit of Congress

01:41and the American people.

01:43While modernization and automation have allowed us

01:45to expand productivity in some areas

01:48and to do more with less, it is worth noting

01:51that the Library's staffing level has remained largely unchanged

01:55since fiscal 2015, and indeed,

01:58the Library's permanent workforce steadily declined

02:01from over 5,000 employees in the early 1990s

02:05to its current level of approximately 3,300.

02:10It is critical that this relatively low staff level

02:13will be adequately supported.

02:15The Library's fiscal 2026 appropriations request

02:19does include $30.9 million in mandatory pay

02:24and price level increases,

02:26and as a result of the continuing resolution,

02:29the Library has had to absorb the cost

02:31of mandatory pay and high inflationary price level increases

02:37in fiscal 2025.

02:40The need to absorb these expenses threatens our ability

02:43to execute the Library's full range of programs and services.

02:48As a result, the Library has three modest programmatic requests

02:52for fiscal 2026 that, if funded, would provide the resources we need

02:57to develop strategic initiatives that deliver greater access

03:01and enhance services, strengthen our capacity,

03:03and still foster innovation.

03:06These requests would also help us to keep pace

03:09with digital advancements, and continue to deliver exceptional service

03:13to Congress and the American people.

03:16These requests are preservation object storage upgrade,

03:21web application delivery and management improvements,

03:25continuous development of the Enterprise Copyright System, ECS.

03:30The Library is also resubmitting three requests

03:34that were not funded in fiscal 2025.

03:38These would support CRS's data and analytics capacity,

03:43digital collections processing capacity,

03:46and digital accessibility.

03:48We also revised these resubmissions to reduce overall funding

03:53and eliminate permanent staff hires where possible.

03:56So, we thank you again for supporting the Library of Congress

04:01and for your consideration of the Library's 2026 budget request.

04:06The staff of the Library of Congress, many of whom are here today,

04:10remain dedicated to our number one mission of service

04:14to the members and staff of the U.S. Congress

04:17and the people it serves.

04:19Thank you, and thanks for yielding back extra time.

04:26We'll be efficient with our time today.

04:29Mr. Austin?

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