Judge says administration can dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services
June 6, 2025
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has denied a request to halt the Trump administration’s further dismantling of an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the country. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had previously agreed to temporarily block the Republican administration. But on Friday, he wrote that recent court decisions suggested that the lawsuit brought by the American Library Association and others belonged in a separate court dedicated to hearing contractual claims. In March, President Donald Trump ordered that the Institute of Museum and Library Services and several other federal agencies be reduced to minimal functions.
