Overview
- On September 3, AFSCME and a coalition of library, museum, and cultural groups filed an amicus brief in Rhode Island v. Trump in support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
- AASLH, the American Alliance of Museums, and partner organizations also submitted a separate brief, with Democracy Forward and Miner, Barnhill & Galland serving as counsel.
- Both briefs ask the First Circuit to affirm the May 13 district-court order by Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. that halted the administration’s dismantling of IMLS.
- The filings detail halted grants, curtailed data collection and research, layoffs, and cancelled awards, warning that institutions could be forced to cut services during the litigation.
- The appeal moves forward alongside the plaintiffs’ summary-judgment motion, while the parallel ALA v. Sonderling case remains pending without a district-court injunction.