Attorney General Bonta Protects California’s Libraries and Museums with Final Ruling in Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granting a permanent injunction blocking the dismantling of several federal agencies “responsible for, among other things, funding museums and libraries, mediating labor disputes, supporting minority-owned businesses, and preventing and ending homelessness.” In its decision, the District Court concludes that the Trump Administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the Take Care Clause, and the Separation of Powers doctrine in its unilateral efforts to dismantle these agencies without Congressional approval.

“More and more, courts are rejecting — definitively and permanently — the Trump Administration’s illegal efforts to dismantle our government agencies and strip away the vital services they provide,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Our museums and libraries are how we pass along our knowledge, heritage, and history to each successive generation. I’m proud to protect these important institutions from President Trump’s misguided attacks. As the President seeks to censor speech he does not like, California will continue to defend the free flow of knowledge.”

In April 2025, Attorney General Bonta and a multistate coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful executive order directing several congressionally established agencies — including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service — to eliminate every component and function not required by statute and reduce their statutorily required functions and associated staff to the minimum required by law. The executive order also directed 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. 

Today’s decision resolves the case in the coalition’s favor, permanently enjoining the Trump Administration from implementing the executive order with regards to the agencies at issue in the lawsuit.