#november212025 — Public Fediverse posts

Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries – Public Libraries Online

Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries

by Kathleen Hughes on November 21, 2025

Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states.

Editor’s Note: The text PDF of the ruling is inserted below.

ALA President Sam Helmick said,

“Today’s court decision is a powerful affirmation of what libraries mean to America. It restores everything that the executive order tried to take away: shared access to books in rural and remote areas, essential virtual learning tools, children’s reading programs and the countless library services available to anyone who walks into a public, school or academic library. This isn’t just a win for the 21 states who filed the case–it’s a win for every library user and every American in every state and territory.  

“Convincing a federal judge that shuttering a supposedly obscure agency would have an immediate and devastating impact on millions of Americans is no small feat. Libraries also strengthen local economies by supporting jobseekers, small businesses and community learning. Protecting these resources matters. ALA is proud to be in the company of dozens of library workers, associations, Friends of libraries, parents, educators, leaders at every level of government and every American who showed up for our libraries.  

“This victory belongs to all of us, and we build the future of our libraries together. As we celebrate this decision, ALA invites everyone to keep using and speaking up for libraries. Your voice makes a difference, and your community leaders need to hear it.”

IMLS is the only federal agency dedicated to the nation’s libraries and museums. On March 14, President Trump issued Executive Order 14238, which directed the elimination of the agency. Subsequently, the Trump administration began mass termination of the agency’s grants, dismissed all members of the IMLS board, halted crucial data collection and research, and intended to lay off nearly all of the agency’s staff. These actions left IMLS unable to fulfill its duties required by federal law and interrupted library services across the country.

Today’s court ruling found that those actions were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to federal law that established IMLS and directed it to carry out programs, including funding for libraries and museums across the nation. The ruling nullifies the Administration’s actions to dismantle IMLS and permanently prohibits the Administration from taking such actions in the future. The ruling has immediate nationwide effect.

ALA also has led efforts in Congress and the courts to preserve IMLS, in parallel to the states’ litigation. ALA filed its own lawsuit challenging the Administration’s actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which remains ongoing. In May, ALA’s lawsuit won a temporary restraining order, which prevented the mass layoff of nearly all IMLS employees, days before it was scheduled to take effect.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries – Public Libraries Online

#ala #americanLibraryAssociation #courtBlocksTrump #dismantleFederalAgency #executiveOrder #forAmericasLibraries #imls #instituteOfMuseumAndLibraryServicesImls #november212025 #pdfRuling #publicLibrariesOnline #uSDistrictCourtOfRhodeIsland

Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries – Public Libraries Online

Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries

by Kathleen Hughes on November 21, 2025

Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states.

Editor’s Note: The text PDF of the ruling is inserted below.

ALA President Sam Helmick said,

“Today’s court decision is a powerful affirmation of what libraries mean to America. It restores everything that the executive order tried to take away: shared access to books in rural and remote areas, essential virtual learning tools, children’s reading programs and the countless library services available to anyone who walks into a public, school or academic library. This isn’t just a win for the 21 states who filed the case–it’s a win for every library user and every American in every state and territory.  

“Convincing a federal judge that shuttering a supposedly obscure agency would have an immediate and devastating impact on millions of Americans is no small feat. Libraries also strengthen local economies by supporting jobseekers, small businesses and community learning. Protecting these resources matters. ALA is proud to be in the company of dozens of library workers, associations, Friends of libraries, parents, educators, leaders at every level of government and every American who showed up for our libraries.  

“This victory belongs to all of us, and we build the future of our libraries together. As we celebrate this decision, ALA invites everyone to keep using and speaking up for libraries. Your voice makes a difference, and your community leaders need to hear it.”

IMLS is the only federal agency dedicated to the nation’s libraries and museums. On March 14, President Trump issued Executive Order 14238, which directed the elimination of the agency. Subsequently, the Trump administration began mass termination of the agency’s grants, dismissed all members of the IMLS board, halted crucial data collection and research, and intended to lay off nearly all of the agency’s staff. These actions left IMLS unable to fulfill its duties required by federal law and interrupted library services across the country.

Today’s court ruling found that those actions were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to federal law that established IMLS and directed it to carry out programs, including funding for libraries and museums across the nation. The ruling nullifies the Administration’s actions to dismantle IMLS and permanently prohibits the Administration from taking such actions in the future. The ruling has immediate nationwide effect.

ALA also has led efforts in Congress and the courts to preserve IMLS, in parallel to the states’ litigation. ALA filed its own lawsuit challenging the Administration’s actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which remains ongoing. In May, ALA’s lawsuit won a temporary restraining order, which prevented the mass layoff of nearly all IMLS employees, days before it was scheduled to take effect.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Court Permanently Blocks Trump’s Executive Order to Dismantle Federal Agency for America’s Libraries – Public Libraries Online

#ala #americanLibraryAssociation #courtBlocksTrump #dismantleFederalAgency #executiveOrder #forAmericasLibraries #imls #instituteOfMuseumAndLibraryServicesImls #november212025 #pdfRuling #publicLibrariesOnline #uSDistrictCourtOfRhodeIsland

Legislative Recap for 11/21/25 – GovTrack.us

1. News From Us
2. Legislative Recap

Legislative Recap for 11/21/25

Get Legislative Recap Updates In Your Inbox!
Sign up (it’s free!) to get posts like this straight to your inbox. You’ll be able to choose posts from these categories: Analysis and Commentary   –   Legislative Recap   –   Legislative Preview   –   The White House   –   News About GovTrack   –   Using GovTrack Tips

Nov. 21, 2025 · by Amy West

The House was certainly back this week. A lot of legislative energy had been pent up for a very long time. Several bills passed unanimously or nearly so; several more were highly partisan while another batch were censure resolutions expressing various kinds of frustration, both partisan and personal. So, in general order of topic and level of support, here’s what the House was up to. Plus one Senate vote that sends a regulation nullification to the President for his signature.

Regular Bills

One bill listed below is now law; that’s the Epstein Files Transparency Act. All the rest are still early in the legislative process and are not yet law.

• H.R. 6019: To repeal certain provisions relating to notification to Senate offices regarding legal process on disclosure of Senate data, and for other purposes, which would repeal provisions in the continuing resolution that was just passed which would provide a small number of Senators an opportunity for significant payments from the government, passed 426-0. It’s unknown whether this bill will receive a vote in the Senate or whether it will pass.
• H.R. 4405: Epstein Files Transparency Act passed 427-1 on Tuesday, November 18. We talked about the bill and the legislative maneuvering involved in more detail in this week’s preview. Since the preview, not only did the bill pass almost unanimously in the House, but the Senate passed it the same day by unanimous consent and the President signed it on Wednesday, November 19.
• H.R. 1608: Department of Homeland Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2025, which would require a report on vehicular terrorism and methods of mitigating it, passed 400-15.
• H.R. 2659: Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, which would establish an interagency task force and require a report on cyber resilience against state sponsored threats, passed 402-8. 
• H.R. 4058: Enhancing Stakeholder Support and Outreach for Preparedness Grants Act, which would direct the Department of Homeland Security to extend stakeholder support and outreach for applicants and recipients of preparedness grants, passed 380-45. 
• H.R. 5214: District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025, which would require pre-trial and pre-conviction mandatory detention as well as mandatory cash bail in the District of Columbia, passed 237-179. This bill was in response to reforms made by local D.C. leaders in 2022.
• H.R. 5107: Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act of 2025, which is another bill that would repeal reforms made by local D.C. leaders, passed 233-190
• H.R. 3109: REFINER Act, which would direct the National Petroleum Council (an industry trade group which acts as an advisory council to the Department of Energy) to issue a report with respect to petrochemical refinery capacity in the United States, passed 230-176.
• H.R. 1949: Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025, which would repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas, passed 217-188.

Regulation Nullifications

The last two of these three will now become law. The first still has to receive a vote in the Senate.

• H.J.Res. 131: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision” passed 217-209.
• H.J.Res. 130: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment” passed 214-212 on November 18. The Senate passed it 51-43 on November 20 and now it next goes to the President to be signed into law.
• S.J.Res. 80: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision” passed 216-209. It next goes to the President to be signed into law.

Censures

Censures are one of the three ways Congress can police the behavior of members. The other two are expulsion (extremely rare) and investigation by the House Ethics Committee (more common than censures or expulsions). We’ll have more to say about the rapid increase this Congress in censure/censure-like resolutions in a separate post, but for now we’ll list the votes for this week. They do not go to the Senate since they are exclusively about House matters and are not legislation that becomes law.

• H.Res. 878: Disapproving the behavior of Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García of Illinois, which does what it says, passed 236-183. Rep. Garciá chose to time his retirement announcement until after his preferred successor had submitted her own petition to get on the primary ballot and near the deadline for submitting petitions to be on the ballot. The end result is that his preferred successor is now the only person in the 2026 Democratic primary for his seat. This resolution was sponsored by fellow Democrat Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA3). Yes, this is unusual.
• H.Res. 888: Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing failed 209-214. Plaskett did text with Epstein, who, she noted, was a constituent at the time. A slight majority of the House felt that this did not reflect discreditably on the House, or at least not so much to warrant a censure and removal from committee memberships. This resolution was sponsored by Rep. Norman (R-SC5). Del. Plaskett is a Democrat, so a Republican sponsoring a censure is usual. Or it would be if it weren’t one of a rash of them just this week.
• H.Res. 893: Censuring Representative Cory Mills of Florida and removing him from the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs was converted to a motion to refer the allegations in the censure resolution to the House Ethics Committee and passed 310-103. Mills retains his committee memberships. Mills also already has been under investigation for different allegations for over a year. He further has an active restraining order against him as a direct result of an alleged and subsequently recanted assault on a woman in Washington, D.C. The censure resolution and new investigation rolls in the assault allegations as well as several campaign finance allegations. The Ethics Committee announced on November 19 that they are establishing an Investigative Subcommittee and will announce members soon. The censure resolution was sponsored by fellow Republican Rep. Mace (R-SC1). Yes, this is unusual.

Next Week

Both chambers of Congress are out for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return the week of December 1st.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Legislative Recap for 11/21/25 – GovTrack.us

#congressionalLegislation #govtrack #govtrackUs #legislativeRecap #november212025 #tracking #uSCongress

Legislative Recap for 11/21/25 – GovTrack.us

1. News From Us
2. Legislative Recap

Legislative Recap for 11/21/25

Get Legislative Recap Updates In Your Inbox!
Sign up (it’s free!) to get posts like this straight to your inbox. You’ll be able to choose posts from these categories: Analysis and Commentary   –   Legislative Recap   –   Legislative Preview   –   The White House   –   News About GovTrack   –   Using GovTrack Tips

Nov. 21, 2025 · by Amy West

The House was certainly back this week. A lot of legislative energy had been pent up for a very long time. Several bills passed unanimously or nearly so; several more were highly partisan while another batch were censure resolutions expressing various kinds of frustration, both partisan and personal. So, in general order of topic and level of support, here’s what the House was up to. Plus one Senate vote that sends a regulation nullification to the President for his signature.

Regular Bills

One bill listed below is now law; that’s the Epstein Files Transparency Act. All the rest are still early in the legislative process and are not yet law.

• H.R. 6019: To repeal certain provisions relating to notification to Senate offices regarding legal process on disclosure of Senate data, and for other purposes, which would repeal provisions in the continuing resolution that was just passed which would provide a small number of Senators an opportunity for significant payments from the government, passed 426-0. It’s unknown whether this bill will receive a vote in the Senate or whether it will pass.
• H.R. 4405: Epstein Files Transparency Act passed 427-1 on Tuesday, November 18. We talked about the bill and the legislative maneuvering involved in more detail in this week’s preview. Since the preview, not only did the bill pass almost unanimously in the House, but the Senate passed it the same day by unanimous consent and the President signed it on Wednesday, November 19.
• H.R. 1608: Department of Homeland Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2025, which would require a report on vehicular terrorism and methods of mitigating it, passed 400-15.
• H.R. 2659: Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, which would establish an interagency task force and require a report on cyber resilience against state sponsored threats, passed 402-8. 
• H.R. 4058: Enhancing Stakeholder Support and Outreach for Preparedness Grants Act, which would direct the Department of Homeland Security to extend stakeholder support and outreach for applicants and recipients of preparedness grants, passed 380-45. 
• H.R. 5214: District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025, which would require pre-trial and pre-conviction mandatory detention as well as mandatory cash bail in the District of Columbia, passed 237-179. This bill was in response to reforms made by local D.C. leaders in 2022.
• H.R. 5107: Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act of 2025, which is another bill that would repeal reforms made by local D.C. leaders, passed 233-190
• H.R. 3109: REFINER Act, which would direct the National Petroleum Council (an industry trade group which acts as an advisory council to the Department of Energy) to issue a report with respect to petrochemical refinery capacity in the United States, passed 230-176.
• H.R. 1949: Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025, which would repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas, passed 217-188.

Regulation Nullifications

The last two of these three will now become law. The first still has to receive a vote in the Senate.

• H.J.Res. 131: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision” passed 217-209.
• H.J.Res. 130: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment” passed 214-212 on November 18. The Senate passed it 51-43 on November 20 and now it next goes to the President to be signed into law.
• S.J.Res. 80: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision” passed 216-209. It next goes to the President to be signed into law.

Censures

Censures are one of the three ways Congress can police the behavior of members. The other two are expulsion (extremely rare) and investigation by the House Ethics Committee (more common than censures or expulsions). We’ll have more to say about the rapid increase this Congress in censure/censure-like resolutions in a separate post, but for now we’ll list the votes for this week. They do not go to the Senate since they are exclusively about House matters and are not legislation that becomes law.

• H.Res. 878: Disapproving the behavior of Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García of Illinois, which does what it says, passed 236-183. Rep. Garciá chose to time his retirement announcement until after his preferred successor had submitted her own petition to get on the primary ballot and near the deadline for submitting petitions to be on the ballot. The end result is that his preferred successor is now the only person in the 2026 Democratic primary for his seat. This resolution was sponsored by fellow Democrat Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA3). Yes, this is unusual.
• H.Res. 888: Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing failed 209-214. Plaskett did text with Epstein, who, she noted, was a constituent at the time. A slight majority of the House felt that this did not reflect discreditably on the House, or at least not so much to warrant a censure and removal from committee memberships. This resolution was sponsored by Rep. Norman (R-SC5). Del. Plaskett is a Democrat, so a Republican sponsoring a censure is usual. Or it would be if it weren’t one of a rash of them just this week.
• H.Res. 893: Censuring Representative Cory Mills of Florida and removing him from the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs was converted to a motion to refer the allegations in the censure resolution to the House Ethics Committee and passed 310-103. Mills retains his committee memberships. Mills also already has been under investigation for different allegations for over a year. He further has an active restraining order against him as a direct result of an alleged and subsequently recanted assault on a woman in Washington, D.C. The censure resolution and new investigation rolls in the assault allegations as well as several campaign finance allegations. The Ethics Committee announced on November 19 that they are establishing an Investigative Subcommittee and will announce members soon. The censure resolution was sponsored by fellow Republican Rep. Mace (R-SC1). Yes, this is unusual.

Next Week

Both chambers of Congress are out for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return the week of December 1st.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Legislative Recap for 11/21/25 – GovTrack.us

#congressionalLegislation #govtrack #govtrackUs #legislativeRecap #november212025 #tracking #uSCongress