Jennifer Schuessler

The group argues that efforts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services imperil the nation’s libraries and violate the law.

In a lawsuit, 21 state attorneys general argued that the steep cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services violate the Constitution and other federal laws related to spending.

Grant recipients have been told that funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities would be redirected to furthering “the president’s agenda.”

The National Endowment for the Humanities, which supports museums, scholarship and historical sites, could see grants curtailed and staffing slashed by up to 80 percent.

The staff of the independent Institute of Museum and Library Services, the largest source of federal funding for museums and libraries, were put on leave.

The president’s order called for curbing the independence of the sprawling network of museums and urging it to promote “American greatness.”

An executive order has demanded that the Institute for Museum and Library Services be eliminated to the maximum extent allowed by law.

Scholars say the papers are unlikely to include dramatic revelations but could shed light on lingering questions — including about the intelligence agencies.

About 99 percent of the government documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination have long been available to the public under a 1992 law.

The New York Historical honor goes to Randall K. Wilson, whose “A Place Called Yellowstone” chronicles a landscape “capable of bridging ideological divides.”