The Trump administration’s plans to shutter four small agencies are indefinitely on hold, following a court’s recent ruling.

A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a permanent injunction on Nov. 21, blocking the administration from taking any further action to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business and Development Agency, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the Interagency Council on Homelessness.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March, eliminating these agencies — and three others — “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” But attorneys general in 21 states sued the administration, arguing that these agency closures would have downstream effects on state-level operations.

The permanent injunction ordered by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. prevents the four agencies from “taking any future action to implement, give effect to, comply with, or carry out the directives contained in the Reduction EO.”

McConnell determined that the Trump administration’s decision to conduct widespread layoffs, terminate grants and eliminate programs at these agencies “undermined their ability to perform functions mandated by statute.”

“By now, the question presented in this case is a familiar one: may the executive branch undertake such actions in circumvention of the will of the legislative branch? In recent months, this court — along with other courts across the country — has concluded that it may not. That answer remains the same here,” he wrote.

The agencies targeted for elimination are responsible for funding museums and libraries, mediating labor disputes, supporting minority-owned businesses, and preventing and ending homelessness.

Over the course of several months, the Trump administration fired, placed on administrative leave, or reassigned nearly all employees in these four agencies. The administration cancelled a wide range of grants to the agencies, and cancelled public programs and services that the agencies provided.

McConnell said these decisions left the agencies unable to carry out their statutorily mandated functions, and unable to spend their congressionally appropriated funds.

The court issued a preliminary injunction in May. The Trump administration appealed the district court’s preliminary injunction, but dropped its appeal on Nov. 21, following the judge’s permanent injunction. Federal News Network has reached out to the White House and the Justice Department for comment.

The Supreme Court and federal appeals courts have mostly allowed the Trump administration to proceed with plans to shutter agencies and conduct mass layoffs across the federal workforce.

The Trump administration argued that a preliminary injunction in this case prevented agencies from implementing the president’s priorities.  McConnell, however, said he ruled in favor of the states, given a “plethora of injuries” that would arise, if the court did not intervene.

States told the court that closing IMLS would force the closure of public libraries, force them to implement hiring freezes and stop providing services that support literacy and learning. State universities said they would be forced to lay off employees, eliminate student programming and default on contracts without continued funding for MBDA.

In other cases, states said some of their agencies and programs are at risk of work stoppages and negotiation impasses, without FMCS around to resolve labor disputes. States also told the court they would lose expert assistance on how to reduce homelessness without the Interagency Council on Homelessness.

“All this to say: the injuries alleged are to the States themselves and are far more than merely economic or speculative,” McConnell wrote.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a “major victory in our ongoing work to defend important services.”

“The federal government’s illegal attack on these agencies threatened vital resources for workers, small businesses, and the most vulnerable in our communities,” James said.

The American Library Association said the court’s decision “restores everything that the executive order tried to take away.”

“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,” ALA President Sam Helmick said. “Libraries also strengthen local economies by supporting jobseekers, small businesses and community learning. Protecting these resources matters.”

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© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

• The Department of Veterans Affairs said it’s helping a record number of homeless veterans find permanent housing. The VA said it assisted nearly 52,000 formerly homeless veterans with housing in fiscal 2025. That’s more than any previous year tracked by the department. The VA provides subsidies to help some veterans afford rent on houses or apartments. In other cases, it helps reunite homeless veterans with family or friends.
  (VA houses largest number of homeless veterans in seven years - Department of Veterans Affairs)
• A bipartisan push to extend a cybersecurity information sharing law may have a path forward in the Senate. A 10-year extension of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 could be included in a future spending package. That’s according to Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), the co-sponsors of the bill. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been blocking their bill. But Peters and Rounds told the audience at the Aspen Institute Cyber Summit on Tuesday that the bill would have plenty of support if it can reach the Senate floor as part of a package. Congress included a short-term extension of the CISA 2015 law in the continuing resolution.
  (Aspen Institute Cyber Summit - Aspen Institute )
• The Army has selected nine installations as potential sites for microreactor power plants under its next-generation Janus nuclear power program. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit issued a solicitation for commercial advanced nuclear technologies to support the effort. The nine sites the Army identified through comprehensive analysis include Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The Army said the final number and location for these microreactors will be determined as part of the acquisition process, but the service is committed to maximizing the number of sites.
  (Army selects nine installations for next-gen nuclear microreactors - U.S. Army)
• Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll instructed unit leaders to check in on their soldiers daily now through Jan. 15. In a memo to the force, Driscoll mandated every officer and noncommissioned officer to "deliberately" check in on every soldier to see if they need help. “The holidays can be a high-risk period for self-harm. We know it’s a problem, it happens every year, so we’ll address it head-on,” Driscoll said in the memo. The effort is based on initiatives like in the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska, where they “systemically prioritized soldier checks” to combat a high suicide rate.
  (Army secretary tells unit leaders to check in on soldiers daily now through Jan. 15 - Social media platform X)
• The Office of Personnel Management has kicked off another human resources IT modernization effort. OPM is reviewing responses to an RFI and meeting with vendors for how to modernize the USA Hire platform. Agencies use USA Hire to conduct assessments of applicants for jobs. In fiscal 2024, agencies used the program to assess approximately one million applicants for over 20,000 job opportunity announcements. OPM expects agency use to continue to grow, especially from TSA and ICE as they hire more employees. OPM plans to release a draft solicitation in January and a final request for proposals in October to modernize the USA Hire platform.
  (USA Hire added to list of federal HR systems slated for upgrades - Federal News Network)
• The Office of Personnel Management is close to finalizing its effort to strip job protections from tens of thousands of federal employees. OPM’s proposed regulations for the so-called “Schedule Policy/Career” classification have been moved into the “final rule stage,” according to the White House’s regulatory agenda. Those regulations are slated for possible finalization by the end of November. OPM’s final rule will impact career employees in “policy-influencing positions,” making them at-will and easier to fire.
  (Federal union sues OPM, seeking release of ‘Schedule Policy/Career’ records - Federal News Network)
• NASA is moving quickly to consolidate up to a quarter of its suburban Maryland campus. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers said the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is embarking on plans to close 13 buildings on its campus. The union said NASA began work closing buildings and labs in late September and that this work continued through the government shutdown. The agency is looking to reduce 25% of the campus’s real estate by 2037.
  (NASA advances plan to shrink Goddard campus by 25% - Federal News Network)
• The General Services Administration continues to lower the price for access to AI tools. First it was $1, then it was 50 cents. Now for a quarter, agencies are able to buy artificial intelligence tools through the GSA schedule contract. Under a new deal signed with the GSA, Perplexity is offering its AI research and drafting capabilities for a mere 25 cents for the next 18 months. GSA said it structured the deal to make the software available directly from Perplexity through the GSA schedule. Previously, agencies could only access Perplexity through a reseller. This is the first OneGov agreement GSA signed that is directly with an original equipment manufacturer, or OEM.
  (GSA cuts cost for AI tool to 25 cents for next 18 months - General Services Administration)
• Agencies are likely to see an uptick in Freedom of Information Act delays and backlogs. That’s because agency FOIA offices were furloughed through the shutdown, but the law requires agencies to count normal working days during the shutdown as part of the FOIA processing time. That’s according to new Justice Department guidance to federal FOIA offices. DOJ said there were 29 days during the shutdown that will count toward FOIA requests and administrative appeals processing.
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© AP Photo/R.J. Rico

Editor’s note: This segment first appeared on Texas Monthly Presents, a television program airing on Texas PBS stations and on PBS.org. It will also be featured in a national PBS special on October 31, 2025. Blake Barrow is the chief executive director of the Rescue Mission of El Paso, the homeless-services organization that runs Hallelujah! BBQ, a unique barbecue joint that doubles as vocational training for residents of the Rescue Mission’s shelter. When the operation grew from a catering service into a restaurant, barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn had to check it out for himself.

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