Senate Confirms Hayden as Librarian of Congress
The Senate confirmed Librarian of Congress nominee Carla Hayden Wednesday 74-18, ending a weeks-long delay of floor consideration brought about by an unidentified Senate Republican's hold (see 1607120080). Hayden, currently head of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library system, will have a 10-year term as LOC head. She is to take over from acting Librarian David Mao at “a date to be determined and is expected to assume her duties soon,” the LOC said in a news release. Hayden has largely avoided taking a position on policy issues on the Copyright Office but said during an April hearing she will prioritize working with Congress and examining “how we can really make sure” the CO has all of the support it needs to properly function (see 1604200053).
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Senate Republican leaders faced mounting pressure Tuesday and into Wednesday to bring Hayden's nomination to the floor. Library interests faulted the Senate Republican hold since Hayden's Senate Rules Committee confirmation hearing was largely noncontroversial. Senate Republicans met prior to the confirmation vote to air concerns about Hayden's lack of a scholarly background and her opposition while president of the American Library Association to elements of the Patriot Act, a copyright lobbyist told us. It wasn't clear whether that meeting directly led to the lifting of the hold, the lobbyist said. The Heritage Foundation's Heritage Action for America lobbying arm had urged a vote against Hayden's nomination.
Senate Rules ranking member Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told us he's pleased the hold was lifted. He hopes it's “the start of a trend” that will lead the Senate to move forward with the delayed consideration of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and other delayed judicial nominees. Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt, R-Mo., had told reporters in April that Hayden's confirmation process was on a "separate track" from those of judicial nominees.
Blunt praised Hayden's qualifications on the Senate floor Wednesday ahead of the confirmation vote and noted the concerns that led to the anonymous hold. Senate Rules had “thoroughly vetted” Hayden, with her confirmation process taking longer than it had for any previous librarian of Congress nominee, Blunt said. He noted that multiple past librarians of Congress have been professional librarians and the longest-serving librarian of Congress came from that background. He said Hayden was president of ALA after the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 against the group's challenge to the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires libraries to install anti-pornography filtering software on computers. Hayden told Senate Rules that pornography “has no place in public libraries,” Blunt said. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., had urged the Senate to approve Hayden given the LOC's need for leadership and struggles to “move into the digital age.”