Washington wins lawsuit to protect libraries, museums, and other small agency programs

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office today won a lawsuit to protect four federal agencies that provide services and funding supporting public libraries and museums, workers, and minority-owned businesses nationwide. The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island today granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General Nick Brown and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general.

The court’s order permanently blocks the Trump administration from eliminating these four agencies:

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which supports museums and libraries nationwide through grantmaking, research, and policy development
• The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which promotes the growth and inclusion of minority-owned businesses through federal financial assistance programs
• The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), which promotes the peaceful resolution of labor disputes
• The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), which coordinates the federal government’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness nationwide

“Today’s victory means that Washingtonians will continue to benefit from the work these agencies do to support our libraries, protect workers’ rights, and promote minority-owned businesses,” Brown said. “It also reaffirms that the President can’t reverse the will of the people and their elected representatives with the stroke of a pen.”

In March, the Trump administration issued an executive order that would dismantle federal agencies created by Congress that collectively provide hundreds of millions of dollars for programs in every state.  In April, Brown joined the coalition in suing the Trump administration to stop the administration’s elimination of IMLS, MBDA, and FMCS.

In May, Brown and the coalition secured a preliminary injunction stopping the administration from implementing the executive order which sought to dismantle these three agencies. In June, the coalition filed an amended lawsuit seeking to protect USICH, which was also targeted by the same executive order.

Brown and the coalition argued in the lawsuit that the executive order’s elimination of all four agencies violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by attempting to override Congress. The president does not have the power to unilaterally eliminate federal agencies created and funded by Congress, and he cannot arbitrarily and suddenly cease agency programs. In its decision on the motion for summary judgment, the District Court sided with Brown and the coalition, ruling that the administration’s actions were unlawful, and barred the administration from taking any future actions to carry out the elimination of the four agencies.

Brown was joined in this lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Read the decision here.

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Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

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