An injunction issued on Tuesday has stopped President Trump’s efforts to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Nominated to the court by President Obama in 2011, district court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued the injunction on the grounds that eliminating IMLS violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
“It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated,” McConnell wrote.
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The preliminary injunction was characterized as a “win for the public interest” in a statement by Rhode Island attorney general Peter Neronha.
Established by Congress in 1996, the agency provides federal funding to libraries and museums nationwide. Through its Grants to States program, it particularly helps small and rural libraries provide services for its patrons.
On March 14, Trump issued an executive order that called IMLS “unnecessary” and mandated that it, as well as six other federal agencies, “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” As a result, the staff was placed on administrative leave, grants were terminated, and the IMLS board members were dismissed.
In response, attorneys general from 21 states sued Trump to stop the dismantling of three of those agencies, including the IMLS, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Last week, a temporary restraining order was issued by the U.S. District Court to block the Trump Administration‘s dismantling of the IMLS. The decision was granted in response to a lawsuit that was filed by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). They were seeking a preliminary injunction against the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) dismissal of most of the IMLS’s 75-person staff last month.
