Leaders Pick Librarian and GPO Director

Summary#

This bill changes how several senior officers who run legislative-branch agencies are chosen, who can remove them, and how some offices are organized. It shifts appointment and removal rules for the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the Government Publishing Office (GPO). It also changes the structure and authority of the Copyright Office and adds new personnel rules for the GPO.

• Main change: The Librarian and the GPO Director would be chosen by a congressional “commission” made up of certain committee leaders and the four party leaders in both chambers, from three people recommended by the oversight committee leaders. The Senate’s advice-and-consent role for those two jobs is removed.
• Copyright Office: Supervisory control is moved away from the Librarian of Congress to the Register of Copyrights, who would be appointed by the President with Senate confirmation after recommendations from the Judiciary committees, and serve a 10-year term (with possible reappointments).
• Deputy posts and acting officers: The bill requires Deputies for the Librarian and the GPO Director, sets deadlines for appointing them, and gives a specified process for naming acting officers if both principal and deputy are absent.
• GPO personnel rules: The GPO would be brought under the Congressional Accountability Act (so certain workplace laws apply) and given authority to run a human capital system that follows merit principles but is set apart from the regular federal competitive service.
• Other items: Creates an Inspector General role for the Copyright Office (separate from the Library’s IG), ratifies certain Copyright Office actions taken between May 8, 2025 and enactment, and updates who may use GPO printing and publishing services.

What it means for you#

• Members of Congress / Congressional leaders

  • The bill gives the named leaders and certain committee chairs a formal, deciding role in appointing and removing the Librarian and the GPO Director.
  • Leaders would vote to remove those officers by a majority of the House-and-Senate leadership group defined in the bill (the Speaker, Senate majority leader, House minority leader, and Senate minority leader).

• Librarian of Congress and Library staff

  • The Librarian would be chosen by the commission (not by the President with Senate confirmation) under the new process.
  • The Librarian must appoint a Deputy within 120 days, or the oversight committee leaders will recommend a Deputy for appointment by the commission.
  • The Librarian’s removal would be by the leadership majority defined above.

• Government Publishing Office (GPO) leadership and staff

  • The Director would be appointed by the same congressional commission process and removable by the leadership majority. Senate confirmation would no longer be required for that job.
  • The Director must appoint a Deputy within 120 days or the oversight committee leaders will recommend one for appointment by the commission.
  • The GPO would be covered by the Congressional Accountability Act, so some workplace protections and worker-rights rules would apply to GPO employees.
  • The GPO Director must set up a human capital management system that follows merit principles, while allowing the GPO to operate outside some standard federal personnel rules.

• Copyright Office staff and stakeholders

  • The Register of Copyrights would be a Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed officer who serves a 10-year term (with potential reappointments of five-year terms).
  • The Register would gain direct supervisory authority over Copyright Office functions currently tied to the Librarian.
  • The bill creates an Inspector General role specifically for the Copyright Office and denies the Library of Congress IG oversight of that office.
  • Actions taken by Copyright Office entities between May 8, 2025 and enactment are explicitly ratified.

• Federal agencies and users of GPO services

  • The bill explicitly allows the GPO to provide printing, binding, and publishing services to Congress, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, and every executive department and agency.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

• This bill would require administrative work: new appointment processes, creation of Deputies, establishing a human capital system at the GPO, and forming an IG for the Copyright Office. These steps could create agency staffing and implementation costs, but the bill contains no published cost estimates.
• The Congressional Accountability Act’s application to the GPO could lead to costs for compliance and possible changes to personnel processes; no estimate is provided.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to clarify who controls key legislative-branch agencies and to set clear, written processes for appointments, deputies, and acting officers.
• It could be seen as restoring or emphasizing congressional control over appointments for some legislative-branch offices by using a commission made up of congressional leaders and oversight committee leaders.
• Establishing a statutory term for the Register of Copyrights and giving the Register direct supervisory authority could be seen as strengthening the Copyright Office’s institutional independence and clarity of leadership.
• Requiring the GPO to adopt a human capital system that follows merit principles and bringing the GPO under the Congressional Accountability Act could be argued to modernize workplace rules and extend employee protections.
• Ratifying past Copyright Office actions removes ambiguity about the legal effect of those actions taken in the recent period specified.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is that replacing Senate advice-and-consent for the Librarian and the GPO Director with selection by a small group of congressional leaders concentrates appointment and removal power in a few elected officials.
• The bill does not fully explain how “majority vote of the House and Senate leadership” would work in practice, which may raise questions about transparency and process.
• Giving the GPO freedom from standard competitive-service rules, even while requiring merit principles, could raise questions about how longstanding civil service protections will be preserved in practice.
• Moving supervisory authority over the Copyright Office from the Librarian to the Register and creating a separate IG for the Copyright Office changes oversight lines; it may create coordination or accountability questions between the Library and the Copyright Office.
• The bill provides no public cost estimate, so it is unclear how much Congress or the affected agencies would need to spend to implement the new appointment processes, human capital system, and oversight structures.