President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly fired Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, just days after dismissing Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. Perlmutter’s role oversees the Copyright Office, which operates under the Library of Congress.

According to Fox News, Perlmutter received an email from the White House stating her position was “terminated effective immediately.” Similarly, Hayden was notified by email that her tenure as Librarian of Congress was ended, a move viewed as part of Trump’s broader effort to remove officials perceived as opposed to his agenda.

Hayden had appointed Perlmutter to lead the Copyright Office in October 2020. Both women’s abrupt firings marked a rare and sudden shake-up within prominent cultural institutions in Washington.

In a related federal case, Yusuf Akoll, a Senior Procurement Contract Specialist at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was charged with fraud for exploiting coronavirus relief programs. Akoll created a fake company, Naagode Consulting LLC, in Virginia and sought two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling approximately $16,666.

Prosecutors said Akoll falsely claimed the company was operational before the February 2020 eligibility cutoff and misrepresented the firm’s 2019 income to qualify for the loans, despite the business generating no revenue that year. This scheme exploited government relief efforts aimed at helping legitimate businesses through the pandemic.

Akoll was charged with making false statements in federal court in Washington, D.C., and the case may involve a plea deal. His fraudulent activity highlights concerns about the oversight of massive government spending during the COVID-19 crisis.

Together, these stories reflect ongoing controversies within the Trump administration’s final months, from leadership changes in cultural agencies to fraud investigations involving pandemic relief funds.