Trump Violated the Law by Shutting Down IMLS
The Government Accountability Office found that IMLS, led by Keith Sonderling, violated the 1974 Impoundment Control Act.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the only Federal funding source for American's libraries, has operated with a skeleton staff since April, when Trump's appointee, Keith E. Sonderling, terminated most of its 75-employee workforce and shut off millions of dollars in authorized grants after the President signed an executive order eliminating IMLS “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”
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By doing so, the Government Accountability Office found that IMLS, led by Sonderling, violated the 1974 Impoundment Control Act.
GAO determined that Sonderling violated that law by withholding funds that Congress appropriated for grants and contracts to support libraries and museums across the country.
Trump's proposed budget completely eliminates Federal funding for libraries.
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GAO General Counsel Edda Emmanuelli Perez wrote in her decision on Monday that IMLS officials did not cooperate with the watchdog’s investigation.
However, based on public information, including sworn statements from the agency’s acting leader as part of ongoing lawsuits, she wrote that IMLS, so far this year, has been “improperly withholding appropriated funds from obligation and expenditure.”
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“Once enacted, an appropriation is a law like any other, and the President must implement it by ensuring that appropriated funds are obligated and expended prudently during their period of availability unless and until Congress enacts another law providing otherwise,” Perez wrote.
Perez wrote that IMLS, in the first five months of this year, has cut its funding by more than half, compared to spending in recent years.
Beyond grants to states, GAO found that Sonderling only obligated about 19% of IMLS's remaining budget for fiscal 2025, after cancelling millions of dollars in contracts and terminating much of its workforce.
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GAO determined that Sonderling has no plans to repurpose any of the unspent funds, and its online events calendar shows no scheduled public activity since December 2024.
We want to be clear: if the administration wants to shut down IMLS or redirect its mission, it must go to Congress. The courts in the Rhode Island case and GAO have now affirmed that neither Executive Orders nor internal policy changes are substitutes for the legislative process.