More than 20 states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over the dismantling of the federal agency focused on volunteerism, including the elimination of hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding for the states and the termination of almost all federal employees.
The lawsuit called the cuts “an unauthorized decision by the administration to dismantle” the agency, known as AmeriCorps, after Congress wrote its programs into law decades ago and had funded them annually. The cuts have jeopardized education, anti-poverty and disaster recovery community service programs across the country.
“My question to this administration is: Is nothing sacred? Is nothing worth protecting?” Philip J. Weiser, the attorney general of Colorado, one of the states that sued, said in a virtual joint news conference on Tuesday.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, AmeriCorps suddenly canceled nearly $400 million in grants, an estimated 40 percent of its remaining funding, according to the nonprofit that represents AmeriCorps’ state and national commissions, as the Trump administration continued its rapid dismantling of the agency. The cuts — spread among all 50 states, several territories and Washington, D.C. — would shutter more than 1,000 programs and abruptly end the service of more than 32,000 AmeriCorps workers, said the nonprofit, called America’s Service Commissions.
“It has been determined that your award no longer effectuates agency priorities,” said an email to the commissions, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times. “You must immediately cease all award activities. This is a final agency action and is not administratively appealable.”
Some states, including Alabama, California, Oregon and Wyoming, had all their funding cut, America’s Service Commissions said. States experienced the biggest cuts because they get the majority of AmeriCorps funds — about 80 percent. The programs funded by that money undergo a rigorous process to win grants, in which the groups are pitted against one another and are obligated to partly match the funds.
Many grants funded under a decades-old anti-poverty program, Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, were also cut, the nonprofit said, including all but two that run through the states.
The cancellation of the grants further hollows out an agency that for three decades has marshaled Americans into a domestic version of the Peace Corps, putting them to work in poor communities and providing the grants that fund modest stipends and other expenses during their year of service. Some of those workers, faced with the prospect of no further money or housing, said they were getting help from the very communities where they had been placed for a job and a place to sleep.
“Terminating nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grants with no advanced notice is already having a detrimental impact on the vast network that makes up the national service field in the United States,” said Kaira Esgate, the chief executive of America’s Service Commissions.
“Thousands of people who have steadfastly dedicated their lives to serving their country through AmeriCorps are finding their livelihoods suddenly thrown into jeopardy, and hundreds of communities are losing critical services,” she said.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, was brought by 24 states with Democratic leadership, as well as the District of Columbia. But the cuts drew even a smattering of Republican criticism.
“I support improving efficiency and eliminating waste,” Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, wrote on social media, “but I would have to object to cutting AmeriCorps grants like those that support Louisiana’s veterans and organizations that provide crucial support after hurricanes and natural disasters.”
The Trump administration had already gutted most of the rest of AmeriCorps. At the direction of Elon Musk’s government-cutting team, nearly all of AmeriCorps’ federal staff was placed on leave this month. The emails sent on Friday were signed by the agency’s interim head, Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi.
Mr. Musk’s team also ended one of AmeriCorps’ major service programs, the National Civilian Community Corps, sending home hundreds of workers stationed across the country who were working on disaster response projects.
After receiving sudden notification of the broad cuts on Friday, state commissions were slowly informing organizations that their funding had been cut and that their workers, who receive a minimal stipend and sometimes housing and money for food, could not be paid for the remainder of their service.
The loss of the grants, which are awarded in cycles, would not necessarily be immediate, and many organizations were left wondering whether they were affected.
Sarah Riley, the head of High Rocks, a West Virginia nonprofit that runs educational programs, from educational youth summer camps to college prep, spent four days in distress over the future of the group’s federal funding. On Tuesday morning, she received a call from the state commission telling her that her organization’s two AmeriCorps grants had been canceled.
High Rocks relies heavily on federal grants in the absence of other kinds of investment in the poor, rural parts of the state where it sets up programming. Ms. Riley was overcome with emotion during a video call on Tuesday afternoon as she thanked her AmeriCorps workers for their service.
“It wasn’t anything we did wrong; I want to emphasize that,” Ms. Riley said.
Alex Tran, who has participated in multiple AmeriCorps programs and received a lifetime service award from former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., was devastated to hear on Friday that his latest program was ending.
Mr. Tran has done disaster recovery and conservation work, among other volunteer work for AmeriCorps. He had recently begun a new role as part of the VISTA program that tapped into his experience and helped steward service members nearing the end of their time in AmeriCorps toward public service careers.
“Every dollar invested in the community gets more than invested back. DOGE thinks that they’re looking for fraud-based abuse?” Mr. Tran said, referring to Mr. Musk’s government cost-cutting team. “I’d like to believe them, but at the same time, I don’t see it.”
