Although the Institute of Museum and Library Services restored discretionary grant funding in December and just last week reopened to grant proposals for fiscal year 2026—in compliance with a November court order—defendants in State of Rhode Island v. Trump have filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Last April, 21 states’ attorneys general sued to prevent the executive branch from dismantling the IMLS and agencies including the Minority Business Development Agency and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness later was added to the lawsuit. Rhode Island district court judge John J. McConnell Jr. granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs in May, and the First Circuit upheld that ruling in September.
Judge McConnell ordered a permanent injunction for the plaintiffs in November. The court found that the defendants’ actions were “arbitrary and capricious,” “contrary to law,” and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Separation of Powers doctrine, and the Take Care Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
At the political organizing platform EveryLibrary, executive director John Chrastka told PW, “I don't think that this appeal has real legs.” He noted that “if the appeal is being done for pro forma reasons, or for performative reasons for that matter, that’s how politics goes. But the judge was very plain in his application of the law.” EveryLibrary continues to call attention to the statutory obligations of IMLS toward the nation’s libraries, as required by Congress.
Full funding for IMLS remains in the Congressional “minibus” for FY26, with a final vote still pending on the continuing resolution. Meanwhile, for reasons of destruction or distraction, the Trump administration appears bent on weakening IMLS and other federal agencies in the nation’s 250th year, when libraries and museums will be central to sharing the American narrative.
