Days after the Trump administration unveiled its plan to not fund the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in its budget for fiscal 2027, a federal court granted the administration’s request to withdraw its appeal of a federal judge’s earlier ruling that struck down Trump’s attempt last year to dismantle the agency.
Last spring, Trump issued an executive order demanding that IMLS and other federal agencies be reduced to their minimum statutory functions. To enforce the EO, the executive branch appointed an IMLS acting director, put 85% of IMLS staff members on paid administrative leave, dissolved the agency’s board of directors, and curtailed the administration of grants.
That order led to a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states in April. In May, Rhode Island district court judge John J. McConnell Jr. formally ordered a halt to the executive order that would dismantling the IMLS. That ruling was followed by a decision in November that permanently barred the administration from taking further steps to eliminate the agency.
“Today’s action finally lays to rest President Trump’s executive order that threatened countless library services available to anyone who walks into one of our nation’s 115,000 public, school, academic and other libraries,” said ALA president Sam Helmick in a statement. “ALA is grateful for the leadership of the state Attorneys General who filed the case.”
Helmick added that while the decision by the Trump administration to drop its appeal of the lawsuit is a win for libraries and library users, the library community still needs to rally to block Trump’s current effort to end funding for IMLS.
While the lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General has been resolved, ALA’s own lawsuit challenging the Administration’s actions is still pending. Last May, ALA’s lawsuit won a temporary restraining order, which prevented the mass layoff of nearly all IMLS employees, days before it was scheduled to take effect
