Advocacy Alert: June 10, 2025

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 at 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.