Attorney General Tong Wins Lawsuit Stopping Elimination of Four Vital Federal Agencies

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11/21/2025

Attorney General Tong Wins Lawsuit Stopping Elimination of Four Vital Federal Agencies

Court Bars Trump Administration from Dismantling Federal Agencies Supporting Libraries, Museums, Minority-Owned Businesses, Workers, and Services for the Unhoused

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong announced today that Connecticut has won a lawsuit protecting four federal agencies from being illegally dismantled by the Trump administration. The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island today granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General Tong and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general. In April, Attorney General Tong joined the coalition in suing the administration to stop the implementation of an Executive Order that would dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). The court’s order permanently blocks the administration from eliminating these four agencies.

“Another resounding defeat for Donald Trump and his lawless, erratic efforts to hijack taxpayer dollars and defund our state,” said Attorney General Tong. “Donald Trump tried to defund summer reading programs and audiobooks for disabled veterans. We sued, we stopped him, and we’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to keep winning against these lawless efforts to dismantle our government.”

In April, Attorney General Tong and the coalition sued to stop the administration’s elimination of three federal agencies:

• IMLS, which supports museums and libraries nationwide through grantmaking, research, and policy development;
• MBDA, which promotes the growth and inclusion of minority-owned businesses through federal financial assistance programs; and
• FMCS, which promotes the peaceful resolution of labor disputes.

In May, Attorney General Tong 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 another agency targeted by the same Executive Order, USICH, which coordinates the federal government’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness nationwide.

Attorney General Tong 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 Attorney General Tong and the coalition, ruling that the administration’s actions were unlawful, and barred the administration from taking any future actions to carry out the Executive Order’s elimination of the four agencies.

The Connecticut State Library receives $2.2 million in annual funding from IMLS, supporting the salaries of 13 Connecticut workers and programs across Connecticut providing support for early literacy and summer reading, support for veterans and military families, access to eBooks and audiobooks, among other programs. Federal funding supported 8,827 summer reading programs across Connecticut used by 229,470 children and teens last year alone. Loss of federal funding could have an immediate impact on summer reading programs for 2025. More than 5,500 Connecticut patrons rely on federally-funded accessible audio and braille books, including 316 veterans. Federal funding enables free access to more than 50,000 eBooks for all Connecticut residents.

This lawsuit was brought 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, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
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