A Philadelphia museum , the Woodmere Art Museum, is suing the Trump administration because theInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) the federal agency that funds the country’s museum programs, illegally revoked a $750,000 grant that had been previously awarded under a historic preservation program, according to Woodmere. Reporting on the lawsuit is the trade publication Bloomberg Law.
The Woodmere Art Museum, which has a collection of 10.000 works spanning from the 18th century to the present day, and is all about the history of Philadelphia art and artists, has reportedly been in a bind since its grant was was revoked in April, since the museum is relying on this grant to carry out a project for its America 250 exhibition next year (when the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America will be celebrated across the country), the museum said in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The $750,000 had been awarded to the museum as part of the IMLS’s Save America’s Treasures program to fund renovation projects: in this case, the museum would have supported updating the Woodmere’s cataloging system and digitizing works to support the 2026 celebration. Grant reimbursements are disbursed quarterly, and according to the complaint, the Woodmere has received about $195,000 of that grant so far. However, due to IMLS staff cuts caused by Trump’s executive order, the agency is unable to manage existing grants and has begun to suspend funding, Woodmere claims. The museum, for its part, also argues that its “collection of ’American treasures’ of national importance is also consistent with the President’s agenda, which is to promote American heritage.”
The museum argues that the revocation of the grant is unconstitutional and violates the Administrative Procedure Act: it therefore seeks an injunction preventing IMLS and the Office of Management and Budget from implementing the March executive order and revoking Woodmere’s grant.
This is not the first time the cuts the Trump administration has inflicted on the IMLS have been challenged. In April, a coalition of 21 states had decided to sue the administration to challenge Trump’s cuts to the institute and other smaller agencies affected by the president’s March executive order, which ordered the reduction of their statutory functions to the minimum required by law. Litigation still ongoing.
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| US, Philadelphia museum sues Trump administration over cuts to grants already awarded |
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