Trump’s Relentless Attacks on American Libraries

Throughout the first few months of the Trump administration, we’ve seen its relentless attacks on American institutions.

January

January 20: Trump signs an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, whose purpose is “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Its activities would soon grow beyond that narrow mission.

January 29: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announces that the US government will be cancelling its subscriptions to the media outlet Politico—subscriptions she claims will save $8 million.

February

February 1: DOGE begins offering buyouts and cutting jobs in federal executive agencies—i.e., those under the president’s control. This does not include the Library of Congress, which is part of the legislative branch, or the system of federal court libraries, of which the head is the Supreme Court chief justice. Yet there are many libraries throughout the executive branch—military bases, presidential libraries, the EPA, and other scientific offices—whose staff members are possible targets for DOGE.

February 13: The State Department, building on the previous month’s cancellation of Politico, announces that it is suspending “all non-mission critical contracts for media subscriptions that are not academic or professional journals.” In particular, it targets The Economist, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press, and Reuters.

February 18: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston closes unexpectedly because “we’ve all been fired.” (It would reopen the following day with only five fewer workers.)

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March

March 14: Another executive order announces the elimination of “the non-statutory components and functions” of several agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. IMLS, as it is known, is the principal grantmaking agency for libraries across the United States. In 2024, for example, it awarded nearly $270 million “to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations.”

March 20: Department of Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling replaces Cyndee Landrum as acting director of the IMLS. The American Library Association warns Sonderling “not to cut library programs required by federal law.”

March 31: The entire IMLS staff is placed on administrative leave.

April

April 2: Trump proclaims “Liberation Day” with the announcement of tariffs targeted at nearly every country on Earth. These tariffs have the potential to affect libraries in a number of ways.

April 10: News emerges that Sonderling has terminated “well over a thousand” IMLS grants, imperiling the programs of numerous state and county libraries.

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May

May 1: In response to a lawsuit by ALA and other organizations, the US District Court for the District of Columbia blocks the Trump administration’s dismantling of IMLS. Nearly all IMLS employees were set to be let go on May 4.

May 2: Trump posts on Truth Social that “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” It is an escalation of his conflict with one of the world’s most prestigious universities—a conflict with implications for all of academe, including its libraries.

May 8: Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had served since 2016. She was the first woman and first African American to hold the position. Karoline Leavitt justifies the firing by saying, “There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.”

May 9: Building on the Trump administration’s efforts to end DEI initiatives, the Pentagon orders all United States military academies to “pull and review” all library books that address this topic.

May 10: Trump fires Shira Perlmutter, head of the US Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress. The likely reason: a report Perlmutter issued criticizing the use of copyrighted materials to train AI systems. (Elon Musk is a champion of AI.)

May 12: Todd Blanche is appointed the acting librarian of Congress. He is Trump’s former defense lawyer.

May 21: IMLS begins restoring some grants after a court ruled that the dismantling of IMLS was illegal.

May 21: Senator Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says, “I think what we’re going to have to do with some of these organizations—like the Library of Congress, GAO—is have Congress appoint the head, to make it crystal clear that these are congressional entities.” Her words “signal the growing appetite on Capitol Hill for Congress to claw back hiring and firing power for leaders of key congressional support agencies.”

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