A federal court has ruled in favor of Connecticut and 20 other states, stopping the Trump administration from eliminating four federal agencies that provide support to libraries, museums, minority-owned businesses, workers, and services for people experiencing homelessness. The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General William Tong and his counterparts, blocking an Executive Order aimed at dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).
“Another resounding defeat for Donald Trump and his lawless, erratic efforts to hijack taxpayer dollars and defund our state,” said Attorney General Tong. “Donald Trump tried to defund summer reading programs and audiobooks for disabled veterans. We sued, we stopped him, and we’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to keep winning against these lawless efforts to dismantle our government.”
The coalition initially sued in April after the Executive Order targeted IMLS, MBDA, and FMCS. In May, they secured a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the order. By June, their amended lawsuit included USICH as another agency threatened by elimination.
According to Attorney General Tong’s office, the lawsuit argued that only Congress has authority over creating or dissolving federal agencies funded through legislation. The court agreed with this interpretation of constitutional limits on executive power.
Connecticut relies significantly on funding from IMLS. The Connecticut State Library receives $2.2 million annually from IMLS grants which support salaries for 13 staff members as well as statewide programs focused on early literacy initiatives, summer reading opportunities for youth, services for veterans and military families, accessible audio materials for people with disabilities—including more than 300 veterans—and free access to over 50,000 eBooks for all residents.
In 2024 alone, federal funds enabled nearly 8,830 summer reading programs across Connecticut that served more than 229,000 children and teens. Over 5,500 residents depend on federally funded accessible audio or braille books.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island (where the case was heard), Vermont Washington state and Wisconsin.
