AG Kaul and Coalition Win Lawsuit Stopping Elimination of Four Federal Agencies

MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul and a coalition of states today won their 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 AG Kaul and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general. In April, AG Kaul 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.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle these agencies that help communities defied applicable laws and the Constitution,” said AG Kaul. “We fought back, and now we’ve won in the district court.”

In April, AG Kaul 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, AG Kaul 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.

AG Kaul 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 AG Kaul 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.

This lawsuit was brought by AG Kaul and 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 Washington.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.