At Hearing with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director, Judiciary Democrats Expose Donald Trump’s Effort to Corrupt, Politicize Office

March 25, 2026

Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2026)— Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Hank Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, led subcommittee Democrats in slamming the Trump Administration’s politicization of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The hearing included testimony from John Squires, the Director of the USPTO.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) purpose is to incentivize American innovation by protecting intellectual property. Donald Trump and his appointees have abused, politicized, and defunded USPTO initiatives, harming U.S. innovation.

Ranking Member Hank Johnson said: “Under the Trump Administration, the patent office’s workplace morale has plummeted, likely because of the administration’s layoffs, where were bizarrely characterized as an attempt to save money, even though the USPTO is self-funded. You’ve also stood by as USPTO employees’ collective bargaining rights were undermined by President Trump, destabilizing your already fragile work force. And under your leadership, the USPTO has publicly explored implementing a patent tax that by all accounts would have devastating effects on innovation in the United States.”
Ranking Member Raskin asked: “Do you usually act as a custodian for the intellectual property rights of other entities, or is this just for President Trump? [...] Is that a service you offer to all American citizens? In other words, if I’m thinking about maybe creating a group one day and we might want to have a trademark, and I’m afraid somebody else has a competing trademark, you will go ahead and file the application for me?” Director Squires dismissed the question.
Ranking Member Raskin said: “By keeping politics out, prior Presidents and USPTO Directors ensured that applicants had a fair and honest system to rely on. That seemed to change last year. You and President Trump injected partisan politics into the USPTO. From working to strip trademark examiners of any right to collective bargaining, a right which they’ve enjoyed for decades, and firing the members of the patent and trademark oversight bodies, to refusing to respond to Congressional requests for information, your tenure seems to be threatening the traditional integrity and nonpolitical nature of our system.”
Ranking Member Johnson said: “Director Squires, I would hope that you would agree with me when I say that the greatest asset of the USPTO are its employees. And employees at the USPTO have described the environment as, ‘rife with rumors, paranoia, and disillusionment.’ Just last week in a government wide survey, only 13.8% of USPTO employees reported that they were satisfied with their job. What factors have contributed to such dissatisfaction by your employees?” Director Squires cited the “crushing backlog” of applications as a potential factor impacting morale.
Ranking Member Raskin said: “I wrote to you last week, Director Squires, asking about this elusive [Board of Peace] and unprecedented situation. If there is a reasonable explanation for the USPTO’s conduct here, we need to hear it—because if you simply filed on behalf of the Board of Peace as a favor to the President, then we have a serious problem on our hands.”