Twenty-one states won a preliminary injunction against the Executive Order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The court also denied a request by the defendants, which include President Trump, to stay the decision for seven days. “This Executive Order violates the Administrative Procedures Act in the arbitrary and capricious way it was carried out,” Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. writes in an order from the US District Court of Rhode Island. “It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our […]
Government
NEA Begins Terminating and Withdrawing Grants
The National Endowment for the Arts began terminating and withdrawing grant offers on Friday night, after President Trump proposed cutting NEA funding from the government budget. Many small publishers, magazines, and publishing-related organizations lost funding. The Community of Magazines and Literary Presses (CLMP) tells PL that they reached out to all fiscal year ’25 Grants for the Arts round one grantees in the literary/arts publishing category. “Of the 51,” said executive director Mary Gannon, “I’ve heard from 40 so far and all 40 have had their grants ‘terminated’ or ‘withdrawn.’ Some have already received payments, but not all.” Among the […]
DOGE Furloughs the Entire Staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences For 90 Days
DOGE placed the roughly 75 employees who comprise the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences on paid “administrative leave” for up to 90 days. A letter from the agency’s director of human resources told employees they would not be allowed on the premises during the leave, and their email accounts are suspended. “Please understand this action is not punitive but rather is taken to facilitate the work and operations of the agency,” the letter claims. The workers are represented by the AFGE Local 3403 union, which says the action came after a “brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership.” […]
Executive Order Eliminates Agency That Supports Libraries
A new executive order issued Friday called for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for supporting libraries. The office of 75 workers administers grants to libraries throughout the US. The executive order reads: “the non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The IMLS had requested grant money of approximately $255 million for fiscal 2025, and […]