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The DOGE Axe Comes for Libraries and Museums
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has long received bipartisan support. But after years of trying, President Donald Trump has delivered it a crushing blow.
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. 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.” Systems in big metros such as Los Angeles County and New York City libraries receive only a small fraction of their budget from the IMLS, according to recent internal memos seen by WIRED, which were issued in response to Trump’s March 14 executive order.
Or read this on Wired
