Guts small federal agency funding museums and libraries...

Trump guts small federal agency funding museums and libraries

The Institute of Museum and Library Services administers grants worth about $160 million in all 50 states.

By Seb Starcevic and Amanda Friedman

An agency responsible for funding museums and libraries across the nation is the latest to be shrunk by President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal government, with its entire staff apparently put on administrative leave Monday.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides grants to “advance, support, and empower” museums, libraries and similar institutions in the U.S. according to its website, was named in an executive order this month along with several other agencies.

Trump’s order directed the Institute of Museum and Library Services “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” shrinking it down to its statutory minimum.

That’s exactly what happened on Monday, when the agency’s roughly 75 staff were informed that they would be placed on paid administrative leave for up to 90 days, effective immediately.

A person at the agency, granted anonymity to discuss the issue, told POLITICO that staff learned the news from their managers on Monday afternoon and were instructed to return their equipment and badges before receiving an all-staff email from the director of human resources asking them to leave the building.

“I regret that such directions are necessary, but we must safeguard legitimate IMLS interests and systems,” reads the email, which POLITICO has seen.

Within hours, staff were locked out of their email accounts and banned from the premises without receiving prior permission.

Earlier that same day, representatives of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency visited the IMLS and met with HR to discuss terminating staff, according to the person. The all-staff email went out shortly after the meeting.

This month, Trump’s Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was appointed acting director of the IMLS, apparently to oversee the agency’s compliance with Trump’s order.

The IMLS administers grants worth about $160 million, funding a variety of educational and research programs. With around 75 staff, it is a relatively lean agency and supports libraries and museums in all 50 states.

It is the latest in a long string of agencies on Trump’s chopping block as he seeks to radically downsize the federal government, which he has accused of gratuitous waste and fraud.

A Trump administration official told POLITICO the cuts “will strengthen IMLS’s ability to serve the American people with integrity and purpose.”

“President Trump was given a clear mandate by the American people, and his Executive Order delivers on that by reducing federal bureaucracy,” the official added. “This restructure is a necessary step to fulfill that order and ensure hard-earned tax dollars are not diverted to discriminatory DEI initiatives or divisive, anti-American programming in our cultural institutions.”