U.S. President Donald Trump ’s decision to halt funding of theIMLS - Institute of Museum and Library Services(we had discussed it here) constitutes a violation of the law according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO, an independent, nonpartisan section of Congress that performs audit, evaluation and investigative duties on behalf of Congress itself: it is a kind of U.S. Court of Auditors). Trump’s executive order, dating back to last March 14, mandated the reduction to the statutory minimum of entities deemed “elements of the federal bureaucracy” unnecessary, and this included the IMLS, which is, remember, the agency that funds libraries and museums across the country. This reduction would have meant the decimation of funds and personnel of the agencies affected by the measure. The IMLS was then effectively dismantled in April by DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, the staff (75 people) were put on leave, and funds appropriated by Congress for the operation of the agency were withheld. As early as a few days after the executive order was published, attorneys general from as many as 21 states had sued Trump, raising doubts about the constitutionality of his measure.
According to the GAO, which ruled through its own decision, the Trump administration violated theImpoundment Control Act (ICA), which prevents the president from instructing IMLS to withhold funds already appropriated by Congress for the agency’s operation. The GAO document, B-337375, released June 16, analyzes the administration’s practice with legal rigor. The legal mechanism is simple but stringent: when Congress approves funding, the executive branch cannot unilaterally block it except by following formal procedures based on the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. In this case, the GAO notes, there appears to be no special message communicated to Congress and no justification in accordance with the law.
On the political and institutional level, the knot revolves around the separation of powers: the increasingly acute clash between the executive and the legislative in the United States around the control of public resources in this case invests the country’s cultural and educational sphere. The fallout, in this case, is concrete. IMLS distributes hundreds of millions of dollars annually for programs that nurture active citizenship: vocational training, literacy, digital connections in rural areas, projects on minority cultural identities. On its official website, IMLS reports data on hundreds of initiatives, including school library programs, science museums, cross-cultural experiences .
However, the issue remains open on a legal level: IMLS and the administration must now respond to GAO requests for clarification. Should illegal actions on the part of the executive be confirmed, the GAO may-according to the legislation-go to federal court to have the funds released. On the civil court side, meanwhile, ongoing lawsuits aim to block the executive order and protect IMLS governance. Against this backdrop, decision B-337375 embodies the tension between regulatory function and power discipline, between public spending criteria and executive autonomy. The GAO’s conclusion, in any case, remains clear: for the time being, the administration has acted beyond the bounds of the law.
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| US, Trump's order on dismantling agency that funds museums and libraries declared illegal |
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