Judge: Trump administration can dismantle Institute of Museum and Library Services
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had previously agreed to temporarily block the Republican administration, saying that plaintiffs were likely to show that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to unilaterally shutter the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which was created by Congress.
But in Friday's ruling, Leon wrote that as much as the 'Court laments the Executive Branch's efforts to cut off this lifeline for libraries and museums,' recent court decisions suggested that the case should be heard in a separate court dedicated to contractual claims.
He cited the Supreme Court's decision allowing the administration to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in teacher-training money despite a lower court order barring the cuts, saying that cases seeking reinstatement of federal grants should be heard in the Court of Federal Claims.
The American Library Assn. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit to stop the administration from gutting the institute after President Trump signed a March 14 executive order that refers to it and several other federal agencies as 'unnecessary.'
The agency's appointed acting director then placed many staff members on administrative leave, sent termination notices to most of them, began canceling grants and contracts and fired all members of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
The institute has roughly 75 employees and issued more than $266 million in grants last year.
However, a Rhode Island judge's order prohibiting the government from shutting down the institute in a separate case brought by several states remains in place. The administration is appealing that order as well.
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