U.S President Donald Trump’s administration has fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, a source briefed on the matter said on Friday.
Hayden, who was the first woman and first African American in the role, headed an office that has overall management responsibility for the library and sets out policy on its programs and activities.
Democratic President Barack Obama appointed her in 2016 to a 10-year term in the role that needed Senate confirmation.
Neither the Library of Congress nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment from Reuters.
The New York Times first reported the firing.
Top Democrats in Congress criticized the move as Trump’s latest politically-motivated purge.
“Donald Trump’s decision to fire Dr. Carla Hayden is the latest foray in his relentless campaign to dismantle the guardrails of our democracy and punish public servants who don’t bend to his every will,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote.
The House of Representatives minority leader, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, called the firing unjust.
“There will be accountability for this unprecedented assault on the American way of life sooner rather than later,” he said in a statement.