CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today won his lawsuit protecting four federal agencies from being illegally dismantled by the Trump administration. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General Raoul and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general.
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“While the president may think he is a king, our Constitution says otherwise,” Raoul said. “Today’s ruling is another win for the rule of law and the separation of powers, and I will continue to stand with other attorneys general to challenge this administration’s unlawful attempts to dismantle federal agencies that provide important funding and services to our residents.”
Today’s order permanently blocks the administration from eliminating four agencies:
- The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supports museums and libraries nationwide through grantmaking, research and policy development.
- The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) promotes the growth and inclusion of minority-owned businesses through federal financial assistance programs.
- The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) promotes the peaceful resolution of labor disputes.
- The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) coordinates the federal government’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness nationwide.
In April, Raoul and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the administration to stop the implementation of an executive order directing the dismantling of these agencies.
In May, Raoul and the coalition secured a preliminary injunction stopping the administration from implementing Trump’s executive order as it applied to three of the agencies: IMLS, MBDA and FMCS. In June, the coalition filed an amended complaint seeking to protect another agency targeted by the same order, USICH.
Attorney General Raoul and the coalition argued in their lawsuit that attempting to eliminate these agencies via executive orders violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by trying to override Congress. The lawsuit argued that 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 Raoul and the coalition, ruling that the administration’s actions were unlawful. The court barred the administration from taking any future actions to carry out the executive order’s elimination of the four agencies.
Along with Raoul, this lawsuit was brought by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
