GAO Declares Trump's Withholding of IMLS Funds to Be Illegal

The Trump Administration is breaking federal law by withholding congressionally approved funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, according to a report released this week by the Government Accountability Office.  

In a 12-page report issued on June 16, the GAO—an independent, nonpartisan agency that serves as a watchdog for congressional appropriations—determined that the Trump administration’s actions in withholding previously approved IMLS funding violates the 1974 Impoundment Control Act (ICA).

“Once enacted, an appropriation is a law like any other, and the President must implement it by ensuring that appropriated funds are obligated and expended prudently during their period of availability unless and until Congress enacts another law providing otherwise,” wrote GAO General Counsel Edda Emmanuelli Perez in the report. “The Constitution grants the President no unilateral authority to withhold funds from obligation.”

Under the ICA, the president can propose the recission of funds, Perez explains in the report, but only in “limited circumstances” and only through an established process, which requires the president to provide “detailed and specific reasoning” to justify any withholding of funds, and, ultimately, “the funds must still be obligated unless Congress acts within 45 days to pass a new law rescinding them.”

The report comes after the Trump Administration issued a March 14 executive order targeting IMLS and six other agencies for closure. In response, two separate lawsuits have been filed seeking to restore the IMLS, both of which also claim the administration has exceeded its constitutional and statutory authority by unilaterally withholding legally appropriated funds. In one suit brought by 21 plaintiff states, a federal judge in Rhode Island has preliminarily enjoined the administration’s actions, while a judge in Washington D.C. has declined to issue injunctive relief because of uncertainty over the court’s jurisdiction.

Notably, the report notes that administration officials have not cooperated with—indeed, have not even responded to—the GAO’s investigation.

“In accordance with our regular practice, we contacted IMLS to seek factual information and the agency’s legal views. Having requested IMLS’s response by May 5, 2025, and having received no communication from the agency, we renewed our request for information on May 12, 2025. At present, we have received no response or other communication from IMLS,” the report notes. “Given our statutory duty to report impoundments to Congress and the absence of a response from IMLS, we have based this decision upon publicly available evidence.”

The report notes that since the March 14 executive order and the appointment of Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling, IMLS has reduced its spending by more than half in this period compared to previous years.

“As of June 3, 2025, the data indicates that IMLS obligated $89,866,698.12 toward eight grant programs in the first five months of calendar year 2025, whereas IMLS obligated $191,012,877.27 toward these same programs in the first five months of calendar year 2024 and $189,852,949.83 toward these same programs in the first five months of calendar year 2023,” the report states. Additionally, the report notes that the IMLS's activities have also ceased, citing no events on the agency’s online calendar and no activity on its news page since the March 20 announcement of Sonderling’s appointment.  

“It is important to understand the constitutional and historical underpinnings of the ICA with respect to the critical role of Congress in exercising its constitutional powers,” the report concludes, adding that the Constitution vests Congress with “the power of the purse” and the “exclusive power” to legislate. “This process does not grant the President the authority to pass his own laws or to ignore or amend a law duly enacted by Congress. Instead, the President must 'faithfully execute' the law as Congress enacts it. It follows from this that Executive Orders cannot function to repeal or undo legislation.”

Enforcement?

While a rebuke to the administration and more support for the current litigation seeking to restore the IMLS, the GAO has no direct power to enforce its decisions, beyond potentially filing a lawsuit of its own. Congress, of course, can also act—although no one is expecting that, given GOP control of both houses and their current priorities.

Nevertheless, Congressional Democrats this week expressed their frustration with the administration’s actions.

In a statement, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) accused the administration—with the help of Elon Musk—of “stealing” from the American people.

“This is not complicated: Congress passed, and the President signed into law, billions in investments in critical infrastructure, and support for communities across the country—such as critical funding that the Institute of Museum and Library Services owes to public libraries across the country—and those promises must be delivered,” DeLauro said. “It should be obvious that the American people did not elect President Trump to steal from them, but today the Comptroller General reminded him of exactly that.”

Washington Senator Patty Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also slammed the administration.

"President Trump may not like the fact that Congress has, on a bipartisan basis, invested in helping kids learn at their local library—but that does not change the fact that he himself signed these investments into law, and they need to start flowing immediately," Murray said. "The president’s funding freeze isn’t just illegal; every day it continues, it hurts real people and communities across our country who are suffering the consequences as investments they count on get choked off."