Latest on IMLS Court Cases

ALA v. Sonderling

On June 6, 2025, in the case ALA v. Sonderling filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, the Judge decided not to grant a preliminary injunction while the courts continue to decide the merits of the case. This does not mean the case is over, it means that the Judge will not put into place an order stopping the Administration from further dismantling IMLS while the parties litigate the legal issues.  

The Judge's opinion stated that other pending cases seeking reinstatement of grants have questioned whether those types of cases belong in the US Court of Federal Claims as opposed to Federal District Court and therefore creating questions as to whether or not this case is in the proper court. The Judge further noted that a preliminary injunction is "an extraordinary remedy" and that a plaintiff must make a clear showing of "a substantial likelihood of success on the merits" in order for one to be issued.  

Key takeaway: With the lack of clarity on the proper court jurisdiction, the Judge decided this case did not meet the standard for a preliminary injunction. This means that the June 6 decision should not change the current status of your grant. 

Rhode Island v. Trump

The preliminary injunction that was put into place May 13 in the case filed by the 21 State Attorneys General, Rhode Island v. Trump, is still in effect.  The Judge in that case ordered IMLS to: 

• reverse the actions taken by the Administration to implement the Executive Order;
• not further pause or terminate IMLS grants or contracts to grantees in the plaintiff's 21 states; and
• restore the grants to grantees in the plaintiff's 21 states.  

Key takeaway: IMLS staff have returned to work, and library and museum grantees in those 21 states have their IMLS grants reinstated. If your museum is an IMLS grantee in one of the 21 states and have not had your grant reinstated, please let AAM know advocacy@aam-us.org. 

This preliminary injunction is in place while the court continues to consider the merits of the case as to whether a permanent injunction should be put in place. The government has appealed the Judge's order of the preliminary injunction and requested a stay of the injunction while the appeal is being considered. The Judge declined to issue a stay, and the preliminary injunction remains in effect until the government's appeal is considered or until a decision is made on the merits of a permanent injunction.  As noted in the reinstatement letters grantees received, it is unclear how long the reinstatements will last given the government's appeal and ongoing court actions. 

The court actions are expected to be a lengthy process and uncertainty around the future of IMLS will likely continue for some time.

AAM and our partner museum associations are in communication with those working on these cases about the ways that the museum community can be most helpful. We will continue to keep you informed about how these court cases impact your work and ensure that museums' issues are represented in these legal proceedings. You can continue to find updates on AAM's website. 

While these cases continue in the court system, our priority as a field continues to be ensuring that Congress preserves federal funding and other support for museums in its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills. One of the key arguments in the lawsuits is that the President cannot eliminate the agency and not use the funding appropriated to the agency without Congressional approval. Because of this, it's critical that Congress continues to fund these agencies.  See previous Advocacy Alerts for ways to get involved.  Note, the next regularly scheduled Advocacy Alert with more detailed funding and policy updates will go out this Friday, June 13. 

Issued by the American Alliance of Museums on 5/15/2025

Issued by the American Alliance of Museums on 4/11/2025

Issued by the American Alliance of Museums on 4/3/2025

Grant Termination 

As noted in previous alerts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has had its staff put on administrative leave with a lack of clarity on the status of already committed grants. In the last few days, news came out that the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) will likely be targeted by the end of this week to cut its staff by 70-80%. We have learned of grant terminations by both NEH and IMLS being sent out to some grantees.   

If your grant has been terminated:

• Contact your members of Congress immediately. They need to be aware of the direct impacts. They will not know if you do not tell them.  Call AND write to ensure the message gets received. AAM has set up a template you can use. You will need to add into the template as much information as possible about the grant and the impacts of losing it. During Museums Advocacy Day, we heard from many Congressional offices that they wanted to be notified if any grants were delayed or terminated for museums in their districts.
• If you have connections to Congressional staff, please contact them directly.
• Review the National Council of Nonprofits checklist "What to do when your federal grant or contract is terminated"
• Please also let AAM know if your grant has been terminated.
• If you are responding to the termination letters, please do so through the eGMS system, or official grants reporting system.
• If you are a Federally recognized tribe whose grant has been terminated, you should also contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Share your story with local media
  

Continue to Put Pressure on Congress

If you don't have a grant that was terminated, please continue to engage your members of Congress and your state legislators.

• Share influential stories on your social media channels on how your museum impacts the community
• Visit Your Legislators Locally: Members of Congress will be in their home districts for two weeks in April 13-27, periodically home for extended weekends, and for all of August. Take the opportunity to invite your members of Congress to your museum, schedule a meeting with them in their district offices, or attend public forums that your members of Congress might be hosting.
• Share your story with local media.
• Write AND call your members of Congress about the impacts of gutting these agencies (note, AAM has updated this template to include NEH and IMLS)
• Write AND call your state-level elected officials and ask them to join in speaking up to members of Congress.
• Encourage your museum's Board, supporters, and members to write and call their members of Congress. 

AAM continues to work with Congressional champions to identify viable options to help support the museum community.  Continue to check this webpage for further updates.

Latest on IMLS as of 3/31

On March 31, the entire Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) staff was placed on administrative leave as a follow up to the executive order from March 14. Read AAM's statement.

Placing the entire staff on administrative leave raises questions as to whether the agency will be able to fulfill its legal obligations to disperse congressionally appropriated funding, leaving museums, libraries, and communities across the country at risk of losing vital resources.  We are in communication with our coalition partners and other stakeholders to assess the sector's legal options.

If your legally promised grant or contract gets delayed or cancelled, please let your members of Congress know immediately. They need to hear how their districts and states are being impacted by these actions.  Be as specific as possible on what is being lost.

We encourage you to continue to get the word out about the impacts of the dismantling of IMLS.  

• Write AND call your members of Congress about IMLS.
• Write AND call your state-level elected officials and ask them to join in speaking up to members of Congress.
• Encourage your museum's Board, supporters, and members to write and call their members of Congress.
• Share your story with local media.
• Invite Congress: Members of Congress will be in their home districts for two weeks April 13-27, periodically home for extended weekends, and for all of August. Take the opportunity to invite your members of Congress to your museum, schedule a meeting with them in their district offices, or attend public forums that your members of Congress might be hosting.
• If you attended Museums Advocacy Day, contact staff members you met to let them know about the staff being placed on administrative leave

Congressional Actions To Date:

• Senate Letter: Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who were the lead authors of the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, sent a letter to Sonderling reminding the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized and appropriated.
• Members of the New York Congressional delegation wrote a letter in opposition to the executive order on IMLS. View the letter.
• Members of the New Hampshire Congressional delegation wrote a letter urging the President to reverse the executive order on IMLS. View the letter.
• As noted in the previous communications, Reps. Dina Titus and Suzanne Bonamici are leading a letter in the House in support of IMLS, this letter is currently in the process of collecting signatures from other House members and we will share the final version with the full list of Congressional signers once the letter is final.