Author: MD.US A.G. Staff   Published: 11/21/2025  Maryland A.G. Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 21, 2025

Media Contacts:
press@oag.state.md.us
410-576-7009

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

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

BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced a victory in 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 Brown and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general.

In April, Attorney General Brown 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.

“This ruling protects the child improving their reading skills at their local library, the aspiring entrepreneur counting on federal support to launch their small business, the worker who needs help resolving a dispute with their employer, and the Marylander living on the street whose survival depends on accessing homeless support services,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our lawsuit preserved these essential programs, ensuring they continue helping Marylanders who need it most.”

In April, Attorney General Brown 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 small businesses through federal financial assistance programs; and
• FMCS, which promotes the peaceful resolution of labor disputes.

In May, Attorney General Brown 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 Brown 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 Brown 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.

In addition to Attorney General Brown, this lawsuit was brought by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

###