When the Trump administration put the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staff on administrative leave earlier this week, the status of current and future funding from the independent government agency was unknown. It is becoming clearer now. Several states, including California, Connecticut, and Washington, have received notification that their IMLS grants have been canceled effective April 1, 2025.

"Withdrawing library grants is a callous move at any time, but downright cruel at a time when it's getting harder for many Americans to make ends meet—most of all, in small and rural communities,” ALA president Cindy Hohl said in a statement.

“The White House may have no qualms about slashing opportunity for job seekers, students, veterans and families, but Congress has the power to restore support for services their constituents rely on. It's time for elected leaders to show up for our libraries.”

It is not just “callous,” the president is legally obligated to disburse congressionally appropriated funds, barring usie if impoundment because of certain conditions, “including reducing the federal budget deficit and not impairing ‘essential Government functions’ or causing ‘harm’ to ‘the national interest,’” according to the National Constitution Center. The IMLS represents .0046 percent of the federal budget, according to the American Alliance of Museums.

The IMLS board and EveryLibrary made note of the administration’s legal requirements with the repeated reminders of IMLS’s “statutory” obligations in separate responses to the administraton's actions this week.

The IMLS board sent a letter to acting director Keith Sonderling on Thursday. BookRiot shared a link to a pdf of the letter, which read in part:

“We have not yet received a response to our letter dated March 24, 2025, in which we requested information about the agency’s planned response to the President’s Executive Order 14238 of March 14, 2025,” the board wrote. “The absence of communication from the agency’s leadership to its statutory advisory body has created an information vacuum in which speculation and uncertainty replace transparency and confidence.

“We are reaching out again to solicit answers to several important and time-sensitive questions, all of which are grounded in our shared interest in ensuring the continuity, integrity, and impact of IMLS’s programs and mission:

• Administrative Leave Implementation: We understand that staff have been placed on administrative leave for a 90-day period and that this leave was implemented suddenly and comprehensively. However, other reports suggest that a small number of staff may have been recalled. Can you clarify how grant payments, oversight, and essential functions will be managed in the absence of key personnel? If some staff have returned to duty, what are their roles and responsibilities?
• Agency Interests and Systems: The letter issued to staff on March 31, 2025, stated that the administrative leave was necessary to “safeguard legitimate IMLS interests and systems.” Can you please clarify what specific interests or systems are being protected?
• DOGE Operational Role: In the absence of some or all of IMLS staff, what activities and functions, if any, are being undertaken by the Division of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with respect to agency operations? Has DOGE assumed responsibilities related to grants or statutory programs?
• National Awards and Medals: This Board has a statutory role in awarding the National Medal for Museum and Library Service (§ 9101(3)). Will the agency continue to administer this award, and if so, what timelines and processes will be followed?”

In a press release condemning the actions of the administration, EveryLibrary praised the IMLS board.

“We would like to acknowledge and thank the National Museum and Library Services Board—the statutory advisory body to the agency—for its leadership at this moment. The Board has now issued two formal letters to the Acting Director outlining IMLS’s legal obligations under the Museum and Library Services Act and the current federal appropriations. These letters plainly and directly advise the Acting Director about the agency’s required duties and the scope of its lawful operations. The Acting Director cannot claim to be unaware or uninformed. To date, he has made no public reply and appears to be disregarding the Board’s counsel and the Board itself—despite its role being clearly established by Congress in statute.”

According to the EveryLibrary release, the terminated grants include “authorized and approved Grants to States projects, National Leadership Grants, and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grants.

“In 2024, 633 grant recipients entered into legally binding plans with IMLS, delivered services and fulfilled obligations in good faith, and are now being denied reimbursement by the federal government.

“The reason given is that the grants are 'inconsistent with IMLS’ priorities' and that President Trump’s Executive Order of March 14, 2025, 'mandates that the IMLS eliminate all non-statutorily required activities and functions.

“The Acting Director has not consulted with the National Museum and Library Services Board—the statutory advisory body to the agency—to change or modify the agency’s priorities, nor has he engaged in any public or stakeholder consultation to determine new priorities. Terminating these grants appears to us to have exceeded the plain terms of the Executive Order; all of these grants are statutory obligations of the agency.”

AFGE Local 3403, a union representing federal employees, released a statement of its own.

"It is unclear how grants are being terminated, and staff have not been consulted or informed about the reasoning for cuts, the ultimate size of expected cuts, or how to support grantees struggling to understand what cancelations mean," the AFGE statement said.

"Our hearts are with the libraries, museums, educators and scholars that are suffering from the unexpected, and arbitrary loss of funding. These programs are the heartbeat of our communities. They preserve our culture, our heritage and our values. The American people deserve better than this."

Meanwhile, on Twitter/X, the DOGE account was celebrating the cancellation of “$25M in wasteful DEI grants,” including cuts that impact not only the California and Connecticut state libraries but a program in Ohio, as well as funding to Queens College in New York, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Tennessee.

Department of Education demand threatens Title I funding

In other funding news, the Department of Education sent a memo to state officials in charge of K-12 education across the country demanding schools sign a certified letter that districts have eliminated all programs that “unfairly promoted diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“Direct receipt of federal funding under Title I Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as amended (20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.) is conditioned with an assurance that your entity “[w]ill comply with all Federal statutes relating to nondiscrimination,” the certified letter notes.

The Department of Education press release on the action said this:

“Today, the U.S. Department of Education sent letters to State Commissioners overseeing K-12 State Education Agencies (SEAs) requiring them to certify their compliance with their antidiscrimination obligations in order to continue receiving federal financial assistance. Specifically, the Department requests certification of compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the responsibilities outlined in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

‘Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right. When state education commissioners accept federal funds, they agree to abide by federal antidiscrimination requirements. Unfortunately, we have seen too many schools flout or outright violate these obligations, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI,’ said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. ‘Today, the Department is taking an important step toward ensuring that states understand—and comply with—their existing obligations under civil rights laws and Students v. Harvard. As Chief Justice Roberts wrote, ‘Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.’ No student should be denied opportunities or treated differently because of his or her race. We hope all State and Local Education Agencies agree and certify their compliance with this legal and constitutional principle.’

“SEAs will be responsible for reporting on their state overall and for collecting certification responses from their Local Education Agencies (LEAs). SEAs will have 10 days to sign and return the certification.”