Advocacy Alert – May 2, 2025
In this Alliance Advocacy Alert:
- Lawsuit Updates
- More Grants Terminated While Others Reinstated
- President Releases Partial Budget for FY26
Lawsuit Updates
IMLS Lawsuit: Yesterday, a judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the Trump Administration from further dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) while the judge continues to review the merits of the case. This is a positive development that prevents additional grant terminations and staff cuts from taking place during this time. Unfortunately, it does not undo the staffing cuts or grant terminations that have already taken place. Overall, this is a successful first step in what is expected to be a lengthy legal process.
NEH Lawsuit: In separate news, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Association (AHA), and the Modern Language Association (MLA) filed a lawsuit to reverse the cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
More Grants Cancelled While Others Reinstated
This week, we received reports that IMLS and other agencies terminated additional grants to museums while IMLS also reinstated at least a handful of previously terminated grants.
Reinstated Grants
If your grant was reinstated, please let AAM know by filling out this form. AAM would like to assess how widespread the grant reinstatements are and if there are any patterns to the grant reinstatements.
Terminated Grants
IMLS terminated additional grants this week. Museums also have had grants terminated this week by additional agencies including AmeriCorps and the National Science Foundation. If your grant was terminated and you have not already done so, please call and write your members of Congress and please report the termination to AAM. We also encourage you to read the previous Grant Terminations Advocacy Alert from April 11 that includes additional resources.
President Releases Partial Budget for FY26
Today, President Trump released an outline of his fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Budget, which calls for the elimination of IMLS, NEA, and NEH. The President’s Budget is just his recommendations for the federal budget. Ultimately, it is up to Congress to determine the funding amounts for the federal government.
Congress is in the beginning stages of the process to fund the government for FY26, known as appropriations. As noted in Monday’s Advocacy Alert, it is very important that Congress continues to provide funding for these agencies, despite the administration’s recent actions. One of the key arguments in recent lawsuits is that the President cannot make these funding cuts without Congressional approval. Because of this, it’s critical that Congress continues to fund these agencies.
Please contact your members of Congress today at the links below to encourage them to sign onto the letters supporting these agencies. Please edit the letters to share your story and experiences regarding the importance of funding these agencies.
- Write to Congress to support funding for IMLS Office of Museum Services in FY26 appropriations
- Write to Congress to support funding for NEH and NEA in FY26 appropriations
