In a new executive order, President Trump has targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal agency charged with distributing Congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients.
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The Executive Order states that IMLS must be reduced to its "statutory functions.” It also requires that “non-statutory components and functions …shall be eliminated to the maximum extent…”.
We are extremely concerned that the wording of this E.O. could result in cuts to the core functions of IMLS. The Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have used similar E.O.s to dismantle the other federal agencies.
IMLS’s statutory obligations to state libraries include federal funding through the Grants to States program, the National Leadership Grant program, and all current contracts, grants, and awards. This core work cannot be disrupted or dismantled by DOGE.