Nearly all employees at federal agency supporting museums and libraries put on administrative leave
Nearly all employees at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency created by Congress to support American museums and libraries, were put on administrative leave Monday, according to a Trump administration official. An IMLS employee and a union representing them said all employees were put on leave, but an administration official said 12 employees were not.
The move still impacted 80% of IMLS' roughly 75-employee staff.
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an
executive order
calling for the agency, as well as six other governmental entities, to be reduced to "the minimum presence." A few weeks ago, employees of the
Department of Government Efficiency
, or
DOGE
, were spotted in the IMLS building in Washington, D.C., to attend the swearing in of the new acting commissioner, Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.
AFGE Local 403, the union representing IMLS employees, said the notification to employees came after a "brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership." It said museums and libraries would no longer be able to contact IMLS staff for updates about their funding. The message also said the status of previously awarded grants is unclear, but that funding is likely to be terminated.
IMLS has approximately 75 employees and was created by Congress as an independent federal agency in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act to support American museums and libraries. Last year, the institute awarded $267 million in grants across the country, with a focus on helping to organize book drives and museum field trips in areas without existing access to libraries or museums.
EveryLibrary, an organization supporting libraries across the country, called the move to put employees on leave "potentially devastating for institutions that depend on federal support to meet local needs."
"This is not merely a bureaucratic activity; it is a crisis for the library, museum, and archive communities across the United States," the group said in a
statement
.
An email to IMLS employees Monday from the agency's human resources director stated there was no "disciplinary purpose" being served in putting these employees on administrative leave. The notice said email accounts would be disabled and instructs employees to leave laptops and work cellphones in the office, according to text of the email shared with CBS News.
One employee said Sonderling's arrival at the agency seemed to signal that employees would soon be put on administrative leave. They have not been told what will happen to the agency, though one possibility entails shrinking the staff footprint to 30 employees and moving them to the Labor Department, according to the
Federal News Network
.
A White House official said the restructuring "is a necessary step" to fulfill Mr. Trump's executive order and would ensure "hard-earned tax dollars are not diverted to discriminatory
DEI initiatives
or divisive anti-American programming in our cultural institutions."
"These changes will strengthen IMLS's ability to serve the American people with integrity and purpose," they added.
Mr. Trump also signed an
executive order
this month that targeted funding for the Smithsonian Institution programs that haves what he characterizeds as "divisive, race-centered ideology."
A bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine,
have previously called
for the agency to retain its federal funding and responsibilities under the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, which Mr. Trump signed in his first term.
"We write to remind the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized," the senators wrote in a letter to Sonderling. "IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community throughout the nation, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers."
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CNN
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Who are the people protesting in Los Angeles?
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CNN
36 minutes ago
- CNN
LA protesters and police in standoff as Trump doubles National Guard deployment
Update: Date: 18 min ago Title: Protesters outside US Embassy in Mexico City call for end to immigration raids across the border Content: Protesters in Mexico City staged a demonstration outside the US Embassy on Monday, calling for an end to sweeping immigration raids across the border. Video captured by Reuters showed people waving Mexican and US flags and burning an effigy resembling US President Donald Trump. 'We cannot remain silent as the Trump administration escalates its war on our communities in the United States,' said activist Alejandro Marinero from Migrant Organization Aztlan. 'Immigration policy is not a party issue, but a class issue. It is the tool of a system that seeks to divide us, exploit us and keep us in the shadows to ensure its profits at the expense of our humanity,' he told Reuters. 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We have to come out here and tell people that's not right,' Holly Minch, who marched with a sign that read 'MELT ICE,' told KGO. The police said they coordinated with public safety agencies under the leadership of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to 'protect numerous First Amendment actions' in the affected neighborhoods. On Sunday, about 150 people, including some under the age of 18, were arrested near the Immigration Services building. Police said the arrests were made after protesters ignored dispersal orders and engaged in acts of violence and vandalism. Anti-ICE protests have popped up around the country, including in New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Dallas and Louisville. Update: Date: 57 min ago Title: Law enforcement helicopters have been circling above protests, flight tracker shows Content: Helicopters from the LAPD and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department circled the areas of Boyle Heights and Little Tokyo throughout the day on Monday, according to data from Flightradar24. Earlier in the night, several police helicopters and a plane deployed by the California Highway Patrol were flying over the downtown area. By midnight, only two police helicopters remained airborne. Since protests erupted over the weekend, authorities have maintained a consistent presence in the air, with multiple helicopters sighted above protest zones all day yesterday. Update: Date: 1 hr 23 min ago Title: In pictures: Protesters clash with police in Downtown Los Angeles on Monday Content: Update: Date: 1 hr 23 min ago Title: Who is protesting in LA? Content: The protests appear divided into separate groups: progressive citizens who felt called to defend the rights of the undocumented, and protesters who appeared determined to drag the city into violent chaos. A senior law enforcement source told CNN that intelligence analysts have been conducting assessments on the crowds that gathered Sunday night. They found the many of the protesters were motivated by the recent immigration raids and disdain for the federal government's deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles. But some protesters, the intelligence source said, fit law enforcement profiles of so-called 'professional rioters,' who continually seek out confrontation with law enforcement. Defending 'La Raza': Unión del Barrio, an organization whose members are dedicated to defending the rights of 'la raza' — or Mexican and indigenous people — within the US, praised the efforts to fight back against ICE and other agencies. The Los Angeles community has 'the moral authority and universal right to defend our people from kidnappings and family separation,' a spokesman said. Toll on vulnerable communities: After being informed ICE agents were questioning workers at a Pasadena hotel, Pablo Alvarado, the co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, began calling for protests to protect vulnerable immigrant communities throughout the city. 'The Pasadena community showed up in large numbers and the message was loud and clear, we don't want to see your armored vehicles, men in masks coming to our communities to pick people up to rip families apart.' But, Alvarado added, he felt the violence that spread throughout the city in response to the raids was tainting their cause. Read the full story. Update: Date: 1 hr 23 min ago Title: Analysis: LA's crisis rests on what Trump does next Content: Donald Trump is talking and acting like an authoritarian as he escalates a constitutional clash with California over his migration crackdown. Much now depends on whether he's simply talking tough or if he's ready to take an already-tense nation across a fateful line in his zeal for strongman rule. On Monday, the president of the United States — the country seen as the world's top steward of democracy for 80 years — endorsed the arrest of the Democratic governor of the nation's most populous state. 'I think it would be a great thing,' Trump said. Trump's decision to deploy troops despite the opposition of California Gov. Gavin Newsom represented the latest example of his willingness to flex extraordinary executive power and marked a break with a first term when he was often talked out of his extreme impulses by establishment officials. For all Trump's multiple previous challenges to the rule of law and democracy, a grave new chapter may be opening. The trajectory of the crisis could now turn on whether Trump follows through on his dictator's theatrics by crossing lines not approached by modern presidents — notably on the use of troops in a law enforcement capacity. It may also rely on the restraint of protesters, who would play into Trump's hands by taking part in more unrest that creates alarming television pictures that can fuel Trump's dystopian rhetoric. Creating or escalating a law-and-order crisis or threat to public security and then using it to justify the use of the military on domestic soil would mirror the methodology of tyrannical leaders throughout history. Read the full analysis. Update: Date: 1 hr 23 min ago Title: Newsom hasn't done anything to warrant arrest, Trump's border czar says Content: White House border czar Tom Homan joined CNN's Kaitlan Collins to discuss comments President Donald Trump made suggesting Homan arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom.
