The Trump-Vance administration has proposed eliminating the budget for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for fiscal year 2027, marking the sixth such attempt. This follows a 10-month battle last year to secure funding for fiscal year 2026 after a prior proposal to sunset the agency. The budget also cuts funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.
The latest budget proposal from the Trump-Vance administration zeroes out funding for the IMLS, the federal agency dedicated to libraries and museums. This comes after the agency operated without a budget from April 2025 to January 2026, following an earlier attempt to dismantle it. The administration targeted the agency again in March 2025, leading to the loss of more than half its staff during a takeover attempt blocked by court orders in State of Rhode Island v. Trump. An appeal is pending, and a second lawsuit, American Library Association v. Sonderling, remains active. Taxpayers ultimately restored the IMLS budget for fiscal year 2026 through congressional action. The proposal also reduces funding for other cultural programs: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) from $208 million to $28 million, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) from $192 million to $39 million. Sam Helmick, President of the American Library Association, criticized the move, stating, “The president’s continued attack on IMLS in today’s budget and last year’s executive order to shutter IMLS shows the extent to which the administration is tone deaf to the needs of millions of Americans who rely on libraries every day.” The American Library Association urges supporters to contact representatives during Congress's break through April 14 and to push for restoration of the IMLS budget.
