By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Senior National
Correspondent
The Trump administration is preparing to terminate AmeriCorps, eliminating $400 million in grants and cutting off critical services for tens of thousands, while continuing to advance policies that benefit Donald Trump, his family, and wealthy allies at the expense of low-income Americans. Final layoffs of AmeriCorps staff will take effect on June 24.
Under orders from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service, the administration is dismantling the country’s only federal agency for national service and volunteerism—without public input or congressional authorization. The decision ends funding for 1,031 organizations and displaces more than 32,000 AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers.
The move is part of a broader campaign to punish the poor. Since returning to office, Trump has aggressively pushed cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance while pursuing massive tax breaks for the rich. Now, the administration is erasing programs that served veterans, students, the elderly, and communities devastated by natural disasters.
“These actions are heartless, cruel, and unlawful,” said Joel Berg of Hunger Free America, one of many groups impacted. “AmeriCorps isn’t wasteful spending—it’s a lifeline.” A coalition of nonprofits and service organizations from across the country has filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland, accusing the Trump administration of violating federal law by gutting AmeriCorps without legal authority or due process.
Plaintiffs include Elev8 Baltimore, Red Cloud Indian School, the AmeriCorps Employees Union, and over a dozen others. The lawsuit states that the cuts violate the Administrative Procedure Act and federal budget law. On April 15, AmeriCorps participants were abruptly told to cease work and return home. Four regional National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) campuses were closed, and the entire corps disbanded. Most agency staff were placed on immediate administrative leave, and 85% were issued layoff notices effective June 24.
Programs supporting Native American education in South Dakota, school tutoring in Baltimore, housing counseling in North Carolina, and civic engagement in Maine have all been defunded. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an AmeriCorps alum, called the shutdown a betrayal.
“AmeriCorps costs pennies to the dollar and delivers enormous value. This decision will hurt communities that can least afford it.” The lawsuit demands a halt to the shutdown and calls on the courts to block what plaintiffs describe as an “unprecedented and unlawful dismantling” of a vital public institution. “Congress created AmeriCorps to serve the vulnerable,” the suit reads. “This administration has chosen to destroy it instead.”
