Word got around on Wednesday evening among the 55 or so remaining employees at the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that they would receive visitors on Thursday at their headquarters at 955 L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. Having read the news reports about armed security and youngsters with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) showing up and padlocking various other government agencies, an experienced employee said in a phone interview on Thursday, they knew what to expect. “There was a buzz,” said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The word was, “Show up if you can.”

And so when Keith Sonderling, who was appointed deputy secretary of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, showed up to be sworn in as acting director of IMLS on Thursday morning, said the employee, “The whole agency, we were all in the office dressed for business and ready to go, there to work.” Sonderling came with security staff and, said the IMLS staffer, some DOGE employees—“the classic young 20-something guys with laptops,” they said.

“They were concerned there would be a scene,” said the staffer. “They didn’t expect to find the entire staff in the office working. They pivoted quickly. They swore the guy in and instead of laying everybody off immediately they left the building, because they didn’t want to create a scene with us there. Otherwise, they would have locked the doors and taken over our systems and sent a mass notification out to everyone.”

On Friday, president Donald Trump had signed an Executive Order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, directing severe cuts to IMLS, which provides resources to museums and libraries in all 50 states and territories, calling for it to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” within seven days. Staff had already been reduced, said the employee, due to steps like the termination of probationary employees.

Word quickly got out Thursday morning on a whistleblowers’ channel on Reddit. “The Institute of Museum and Library Services is being raided by DOGE and the new Acting Director (also somehow DepSec of Labor) Keith Sonderling with the express intent to shut it down,” wrote one anonymous poster. “Sonderling was sworn-in in the lobby of the office building and they are proceeding with quickly and quietly dismantling the agency. There are Department of Homeland Security personnel present—to bully a bunch of civil servants who administer grants to museums and libraries.” 

Shortly after Sonderling was sworn in, the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) was busily posting on social media about the results of a survey of museum leaders, asking what would happen without funding from agencies like IMLS.

“Losing this funding would affect our ability to provide essential learning initiatives for children with disabilities both in and out of the classroom,” said one, “and critical early learning programs for children in our community.”

“Without federal funding,” said another, this museum must cut back, if not completely eliminate, programs specially designed for students at Title 1 schools. No child in the richest country in the world should ever have to lose educational opportunities.”

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) points out that IMLS accounts for just 0.0046 percent of the overall federal budget.

“We’ve generally had bipartisan support in Congress,” said the employee. “The vast majority of our budget goes to libraries, so every state gets money, every Congressional district and every county. Generally speaking, public libraries are universally applauded. Even during the first Trump administration, when they called for our elimination, Congress would turn around and not just fund us—they increased our funding every year. We didn’t even ask for more money.”

Other government departments, said the employee, had shifted more to remote work, leaving few if any employees on the scene when DOGE showed up to raid and padlock their offices. IMLS staffers did what they could to demonstrate defiance by showing up in person on Thursday, many of them dressed in funereal black.

“Our budget is minuscule but we have tons of constituents throughout the country who trust us,” said the staffer. “We do a lot of work to engage with people and communities. So often we hear from people who say, ‘We never thought people from the government were like this.’ We work with tribal and native communities. These are legislatively created programs. Congress told us to do these things. We did this with integrity and sincerity. In the world of philanthropy, there’s an idea of trust-based philanthropy. It’s not a word we use but when I learned about that, I felt like that’s what we do. The people in the agency have built trusting relationships with the communities we serve. 

“I feel good about our work,” said the employee. “If this is where it ends, okay. The climate is shifting. But I have no regrets about the people I’ve communicated with and the museums we’ve helped.”

A representative of the IMLS employees’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) 3403, confirmed in a text message that Sonderling was sworn in, accompanied by security and DOGE staffers.

“Sonderling, an employment lawyer by trade, appears committed to following federal law,” said the AFGE rep. “After departing the office, Sonderling sent an email to staff emphasizing the importance of libraries and museums in cultivating the next generation’s perception of American exceptionalism and patriotism. The union looks forward to working with him in good faith to continue IMLS’s mission with efficiency and innovation.

“The union still expects that most employees will be placed on administrative leave over the weekend or Monday,” added the rep. “It remains unclear whether funding for existing grantees will continue, and whether new grants will be available in the future.”