The ALA's Lawsuit to Save the IMLS Set to Extend Into 2026
A proposed new briefing schedule would have key filing deadlines in the case extended to the end of December, reflecting a nearly two-month delay from the government shutdown.
With the government now reopened, lawyers for the American Library Association and the Department of Justice this week proposed a new briefing schedule that will see their litigation over the Trump Administration's bid to shutter the Institute for Museum and Library Services extend well into the new year.
In a November 18 filing, the parties proposed that the DOJ's combined opposition, cross-motion for summary judgment, and motion to dismiss would now be due on or before November 25, 2025; The ALA plaintiffs would then file their combined reply and response by December 16, 2025; and the DOJ would then have until December 30, 2025 to file their joint reply.
The schedule, while fairly swift, would nevertheless extend the litigation well into 2026. If judge Richard J. Leon allows the case to proceed, a hearing on the motions for summary judgment would then need to be scheduled, meaning that the litigation could run up against plans for the America 250 celebration, barring an unexpected dismissal.
The proposed litigation schedule in the ALA's case also comes as a parallel case filed by a coalition of states proceeds in a Rhode Island court, and as a DOJ appeal in that case proceeds before the First Circuit.
And it comes as Congress debates whether to keep the IMLS funded in FY 2026.
Under a Continuing Resolution now in force through January 2026, the IMLS will continue to be funded at FY 2025 levels. And despite the administration's proposal to wind down the agency, legislators in both houses have proposed keeping the agency in their FY 2026 budget at $291.8 million.
That's a $3 million cut to the IMLS over funding levels set in a continuing resolution for FY 2025, but given the administration’s unilateral efforts to dismantle the agency by executive order and its recent budget blueprint that proposed the agency’s permanent elimination, library advocates say it’s a positive sign that there is any funding at all for libraries and the IMLS.
Furthermore, both the House and Senate proposed a very modest increase—about $400,000—for state grants to libraries under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
The ALA's lawsuit to block the administration's dismantling of the IMLS was first filed on April 7, 2025, and was delayed by the district court when the government shutdown began in October.
