States win a legal injunction against President Trump, pausing library funding cuts

A federal judge has halted President Trump’s attempt to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services – the agency which provides federal funding to libraries and museums across the country.

On March 14, Trump issued an executive order calling for the elimination “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” of seven government entities, including the IMLS. In response, attorneys general from 21 states sued the president to stop him from dismantling three of those agencies – the IMLS, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

District court Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who was nominated to the court by President Obama in 2011, issued an injunction on the EO Tuesday, stating that it 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.

Rhode Island attorney general Peter Neronha called the preliminary injunction a “win for the public interest” in a statement Tuesday. “When the Trump Administration attempts to dismantle these agencies, it is making a targeted, concerted effort to prohibit everyday people from accessing their full potential.”

NPR has reached out to lawyers from the Trump administration, but has yet to hear back.

The IMLS was established by Congress in 1996. It is the main source of federal funding for public libraries. Through its Grants to States program, it particularly helps small and rural libraries provide services for its patrons. In 2024 the IMLS budget was $294 million.

Shortly after President Trump issued his EO, he installed Keith E. Sonderling as the IMLS’s new acting director. And on March 31, the agency’s employees were put on administrative leave with pay for up to 90 days. Some states also had their grants rescinded, while others were left in limbo with no one staffed at the agency to process grants.

There is currently a separate lawsuit against President Trump to stop the dismantling of IMLS, coming from the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union representing museum and library workers.