Gov. Newsom Sues Trump Admin Again – For Termination of State Libraries Federal Funding

“President Trump is leading a campaign to dismantle vast swaths of the federal government,” claim 21 State Attorneys General.

Cue the violins and cut to the chase – it’s all about losing out on the federal gravy train.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have just filed his 12th lawsuit against the Trump administration after millions of dollars in federal grants to state libraries were terminated following the President ordering the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library of Services (IMLS).

Why is the federal government funding California State Libraries anyway?

It’s clear that Gov. Newsom is panicking at the loss of federal funding when he claims that the Trump administration is “illegally” shuttering the agency that administers the grants. Actually, Gov. Newsom has more than 15 million reasons to panic.

“Through IMLS’s Grants to States Program, the California State Library received $15.7 million in federal funding to support statewide library programs and staffing – less than 40 cents per Californian. Over 21 percent of that funding has yet to be sent to California,” the governor said in a press statement Monday.

“This threatens federal funding to California libraries that support library staff and critical library programs, including literacy and language tutoring and summer reading and activity programs,” Newsom said.

“Trump has shuttered or drastically curtailed agencies, including the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the U.S. Agency for International Development,” the AP reported in March. “The Institute of Museum and Library of Services, or IMLS, is a key source of funding for museums, libraries and educational institutions.”

IMLS was established in 1996 during the Clinton Administration, by a Republican-led Congress, the AP reported.

In March 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14238, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” that directed that the elimination of the IMLS along with several other federal agencies. The 70 person IMLS staff was put on leave on March 31, 2025.

The IMLS was authorized in 1996 by Chapter 72 of Title 20 of the U.S. Code – the result of the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996, and the reauthorization and extension of that act that took place in 2003, 2010, and 2018.

The 2024 IMLS budget was $294,800,000, and in 2025, requested $280,000,000 for its budget.

“It distributes thousands of grants nationwide, totaling in recent years to more than $200 million annually,” AP reports. “Awards in 2024 ranged from $240,000 for the Chicago History Museum to more than $1 million for several state library training programs named for former Republican first lady Laura Bush to nearly $25,000 for the Lorain Historical Society, which is based in the Ohio hometown of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison.”

What is Governor Newsom’s beef? Here is what Attorney General Rob Bonta says:

The President also ordered the Office of Management and Budget to deny these agencies authorization to spend federal funds already allocated by Congress for any functions beyond the minimum required by statute. The March 14, 2025 Closure Order is the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to unlawfully dismantle agencies that Americans rely on. This time, he is targeting agencies that provide services and funding supporting public libraries and museums, workers, and minority-owned businesses nationwide. The agencies subject to the Closure Order collectively provide billions of dollars in funding to States to support libraries, museums, and disadvantaged businesses, provide services that States rely on to peaceably resolve labor disputes, and more. In the lawsuit, the attorneys general argue that the Closure Order and its implementation are unlawful and cannot stand.

Them’s fightin’ words.

Notably, Attorney General Bonta joined the lawsuit alongside the attorneys general of a bunch of blue states: New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada (slightly purple), New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Attorneys General claim in their latest lawsuit, “The Administration cannot dismantle federal agencies in this way.”

But as Constitutional Law Attorney and Professor Jonathan Turley affirms Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal government:

“Under Article II of the Constitution, the president is given ample discretion in running the executive branch, including the work status of federal employees.

Federal employees are entitled to protections in their employment. But they’re not entitled to permanent employment. Congress is entitled to appropriate money for specific purposes. But it is not entitled to manage the executive branch.

Trump is very willing to fight on this hill. He holds a strong constitutional position and an even stronger political position.

For those who proclaimed themselves as defenders of democracy throughout last year’s election cycle, this is what democracy looks like. Voters made clear that they want changes in the size and the focus of government.”

Turley even applauds Trump’s generous buyout offer for federal employees, calling it “an extremely clever move.”

“The best way to shrink the government is to get people to leave voluntarily.”

As to the District Court Judges trying to overturn Trump’s firings and agency eliminations, even his former Attorney general Bill Barr disagrees: “These district court judges are trying to usurp the responsibility of the president in the national security area. And what’s happening here is they’re trying to reduce all decisions to these trial-like hearings which essentially gives the judge the power to overrule and second-guess the executive,” RCP reported.

California AG Bonta attempts to justify his position because “The gutting of IMLS will cause destructive harm to California’s libraries and museums and the communities they serve. For example, California libraries employ approximately 17,000 employees who staff the State’s 1,127 libraries.”

If California’s state libraries are as crucial as Governor Newsom and AG Bonta claim, and not just another state jobs program, then the governor will need to find the funding in his own budget.

Maybe cutting back on petty lawsuits against the President is one place the governor can save some dough.