Nearly the entire staff of the federal agency funding museums and libraries was ordered to stop work Tuesday and employees were sent home, a White House official confirmed.

The official, speaking on background, said that roughly 80% of the 70 employees of the Institute of Museum and Library Services were placed immediately on administrative leave.

“The notification followed a brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership,” said the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents the library and museum workers, said in a statement referring to the Department of Governmental Efficiency headed by Elon Musk.

“Employees were required to turn in all government property prior to exiting the building,” the statement said, “and email accounts are being disabled today.”

According to several government websites, a federal agency can place employees on paid leave for not more than 10 working days, or two weeks.

The development potentially jeopardizes $6.1 million in federal funding for Maryland cultural programs for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, ranging from the Walters Art Museum’s first permanent installation dedicated to Latin-American art to an initiative that translates textbooks into Braille for 50 blind or visually impaired college students in Baltimore.

Cultural advocates nationwide and in Maryland have been bracing themselves for this action, or one like it, since President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 14 ordering seven independent federal agencies, including the IMLS, to eliminate any functions other than those they weren’t legally required to provide.

Trump has said that deep cuts to federal agencies are necessary to eliminate wasteful spending from the federal government.

Institute leaders pushed back March 20 in a letter to Acting IMLS Director Keith Sonderling that listed an array of programs that board members said are legally mandated — including several that support diversity mandates that have been targeted for termination by the Trump administration.

Founded in 1996, the institute provides supplemental support in the form of grants for the nation’s museums and libraries.

The union statement said that the status of grants that have been previously approved is unclear. While some money has already made it into cultural organizations’ bank accounts, a large chunk of the sums pledged has not yet been received.

“Without staff to administer the programs,” the union statement said, “it is likely that most grants will be terminated.”

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