On Monday, managers at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) informed 77 employees—virtually the agency’s entire staff—that they were immediately being put on paid administrative leave, according to one of the workers, who sought anonymity out of fear of retaliation from Trump officials. Several other sources confirmed the move, which came after President Donald Trump appointed Keith Sonderling, the deputy secretary of labor, as the acting director of IMLS less than two weeks ago.
A representative for the American Federation of Government Employee Local 3403, a union that represents about 40 IMLS staffers, said Sonderling and a group of DOGE staffers met with IMLS leadership late last month. Afterwards, Sonderling sent an email to staff “emphasizing the importance of libraries and museums in cultivating the next generation’s perception of American exceptionalism and patriotism,” the union representative said in a statement to WIRED.
Trump made a number of other unsuccessful attempts to defund the IMLS during his first term. The White House described its latest effort as a necessary part of “eliminating waste and reducing government overreach.” But the president himself has said little about what specifically concerns him about funding libraries; a separate order he signed recently described federally supported Smithsonian museums as peddling “divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
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