New York (AP) – President Donald Trump He was appointed as the new acting director of Museum and Library Services Research Institute, One of seven independent government agencies cited in a recent executive order seeking dismantling “with the greatest extent of the law.”
Trump said the order “continues to reduce the president’s decision to federal bureaucracy.”
Since taking office, Trump has shut down or dramatically cuts institutions, including the Consumer Finance Protection Agency and the International Development Agency. Museums and Services Libraries, or IMLS Institute, are funding sources for museums, libraries and educational institutions.
What are the museum and library services research institutes?
IMLS was founded in 1996 by a Republican-led Congress and has a mission to “promote, support and empower American museums, libraries and related organizations through grants, research and policy development.” The Institute combined services from previous government agencies, including the National Committee on Library and Information Science and the Institute for Museum Services.
This distributes thousands of grants across the country, bringing in a total of more than $200 million a year in recent years. The 2024 award ranged from $240,000 at the Chicago History Museum to more than $1 million for several previously named state library training programs. Republican First Lady Lady Laura Bush Up to nearly $25,000 for the Lorraine Historical Society, based in Ohio’s hometown Nobel Prize winners Toni Morrison.
A Bush spokesman declined to comment.
Who is the new director?
New proxy director Keith Sonderling was recently confirmed as deputy secretary to the Department of Labor and was a member of the U.S. Employment Opportunity Committee from 2020 to 2024. He will replace Cindy Landrum, who was appointed proxy manager in March 2024.
“I am committed to leading this organization in Lockstep to this administration, increasing efficiency and promoting innovation,” Sonderling said in a statement after his appointment on Thursday. “We will invigorate IMLS, focus on patriotism, maintain our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism, and ensure that we will develop a love for the nation in future generations.”
Has IML been targeted previously?
During his first term, Trump repeatedly called for IMLS to be shut down, but funds were maintained by Congress. The American Library Association accused the Trump administration of “eliminating the only federal institution dedicated to funding library services. … It cuts off the Trump administration’s executive order on the knees most loved and trusted by the American institutions and the staff and services they provide.”
What’s going to happen now?
The Library Association advises its members that the current grant status remains unknown. If the administration follows the same playbook Targeting other small institutions Due to closure, IML can be shut down.
The US Peace Institute was one of four institutions Trump I was ordered to close Last month, to reduce the size of the government. On Monday, Elon Musk’s government efficiency was controlled USIP’s Washington headquarters and law enforcement were used to escort employees of independent think tanks from the building. Former USIP board members sued the administration to stop the takeover, but a judge on Wednesday refused to immediately block the administration’s actions.
Doge staff have also moved quickly to fire staff in the past few weeks, close grants and contracts, and eliminate leaders from two other institutions who have invested in small and medium-sized businesses in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Former board members and leaders of these organizations also sued, but the judge found it to be legal. Remove most staff and grants From the American Foundation for African Development.
Source link
