In a Major Win for Libraries, Federal Judge Orders IMLS to Be Restored

Finally, some good news for the library community. On May 13, federal judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island issued a sweeping preliminary injunction blocking Trump administration officials from acting on the president's March 14 executive order to dismantle the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Furthermore, the court ordered the administration to immediately take steps to restore the agency's employees, as well as grant funding activities in the plaintiff states.

The injunction comes a week after McConnell on May 6 granted the plaintiffs' motion in a lawsuit filed on April 4 by 21 states, finding that Trump’s controversial executive order, and the subsequent actions taken by administration officials to implement it, likely violate the Administrative Procedures Act and the Constitution.

The injunction is a major victory for library supporters in that it seeks to reverse the job cuts at the agency, as well as to restore vital funding to libraries and individuals.

Specifically, McConnell ordered the Trump administration to:

• Promptly take all necessary steps to reverse any “policies, memoranda, directives, or actions” aimed at complying with Trump’s March 14 executive order.  
• Refrain from “any further actions to eliminate” the IMLS pursuant to the executive order.
• Take all necessary steps to restore all “employees and personal service contractors who were involuntarily placed on leave or involuntarily terminated."
• Refrain from any further attempts to “pause, cancel, or otherwise terminate” IMLS grants or contracts in the 21 plaintiff states, other than in cases where grantees or contractors have not complied with their terms.  
• Take “immediate steps to resume the "processing, disbursement, and payment of already awarded funding in the plaintiff states, and to release awarded funds previously withheld or rendered in accessible" due to the executive order.

The court further ordered a status report “within seven days” confirming that the Trump Administration is in "full compliance" or explaining why "compliance is not practicable."

The ruling applies to IMLS as well as two other Congressionally appointed agencies targeted by Trump:  The Minority Business and Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

The injunction comes as a second court also considers the scope of an injunction in a parallel case brought by the American Library Association. On May 1, federal judge Richard J. Leon in Washngton D.C. issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the further dismantling of the IMLS.

Meanwhile, in Congress, library supporters are also seeking to counter the administration’s proposed elimination of the IMLS in its FY 2026 budget blueprint. 

The injunction comes over the objections of DOJ lawyers, who in a notice filed on May 9 that complained of “implementation ambiguities,” telling the court that the the injunction isn’t specific enough—an interesting complaint, given that the administration’s indiscriminate slashing of the agencies in question was directly at issue in the case.

“The broad language of the proposed order could potentially sweep in almost all activities that occurred since March 14, 2025, particularly in light of the reference to actions that are taken ‘in whole or in part’ with respect to an Executive Order that itself is broadly defined,” DOJ lawyers argue. “At a minimum, this could lead to confusion over the scope of the order.”

DOJ lawyers also raised concerns about meeting the order’s seven-day deadline. “Because the proposed order requires sweeping relief across various agencies, Defendants may not be able to fully implement its provisions within seven days,” DOJ lawyer warn. “Specifically, impediments outside Defendants’ control such as access to technology and office space may delay complete implementation, to the extent that implementation would, for example, require all employees to be back in their pre-March 14 offices by a certain date.”

Update: On May 16, the Trump Administration appealed McConnell's injunction to U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Clarification: An earlier version of this article omitted that parts of the injunction apply only to the 21 plaintiff states. The point was clarified in the parties' May 20 status report, in which the parties confirmed that McConnell's injunction regarding grant funding applies only to recipients in the plaintiff states.