A district court judge slated to issue a ruling on the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) said in court that he’s inclined to block the Trump administration‘s efforts, Washington, D.C.’s WUSA9 reported Wednesday.
The agency, which is responsible for distributing federal dollars to American museums and libraries, was gutted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month, with its entire 75-person staff placed on leave by acting director Keith Sonderling. (Sonderling was previously an EEOC commissioner who served as deputy secretary of labor during President Trump’s first term.)
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A lawsuit was subsequently filed in in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union representing over 42,000 US cultural workers, seeking a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s dismissal of most of the IMLS staff.
The IMLS is one of many such federal agencies that have been targeted by Trump’s executive orders, including most recently the firing of Biden appointees from the Holocaust Museum board.
Efforts to dismantle the IMLS have allegedly already impacted libraries on tribal land because almost all of their funding comes from federal grants, while institutions across the country scramble to rectify financial shortcomings.
While attorneys for the Justice Department have argued this as a policy dispute, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon seemed to disagree, saying, “I must say, based on what I’ve heard so far I’m inclined to grant the [temporary restraining order].”
Leon, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, is expected to issue a ruling today.