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 G. 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 takes steps to restore the agency's employees and grant funding activities.

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 in some 59 states and territories.

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 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, 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.