NEW YORK – Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who defended Donald Trump in his 2024 criminal proceedings, is now the acting Librarian of Congress, as announced by the Justice Department on Monday.

Blanche replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, whom the White House fired last week amid criticism from some conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda. She was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2015.

Blanche was named the number two Justice Department official after serving as a criminal defense attorney defending Trump against two cases brought by the Justice Department during the Biden administration. Blanche is a former federal prosecutor who was a key figure on Trump’s defense team in his New York hush money trial, which ended in a conviction on 34 felony counts.

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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.