On Friday, April 25, 2025, $400 million of AmeriCorps grants, 41 percent of its funding, were terminated by President Trump’s administration.
AmeriCorps is a federal volunteer program embedded in local organizations and communities across the U.S. Now, the program's existence is under threat.
Every year, AmeriCorps sends more than 2,000 people aged 18 to 26 to work with non-profits and non-government organizations for 10 to 11 months. With AmeriCorps, communities thrive and young adults develop job-specific skills, and receive modest pay. Now, the program is at risk of being removed completely. 32,000 members working across all 50 states have been let go, and hundreds of individual projects have been forced to stop completely due to the budget cuts.
AmeriCorps is a valuable and necessary institution that benefits all Americans. President Trump should rescind the budget cuts and allow the program to continue providing for communities nationwide.
Although no formal reason was given by the Department of Government Efficiency, many point fingers to the fact that there were significant holes found regarding the organization’s financial statements, more specifically, $45 million in unaccounted for payments. In fact, this is the eighth consecutive year AmeriCorps has had this problem, which was uncovered in audits. While this seems shady in hindsight, that is most likely not the case. The Pentagon has failed seven audits in a row, with billions of dollars unaccounted for. Audit failure is a common occurrence amongst federal agencies. In addition, AmeriCorps found the $45 million that was supposedly lost during their own review of their spending.
The Trump Administration wrote that AmeriCorps is “waste, fraud, and abuse” of federal funds. This is simply an excuse made by the Trump Administration to downsize the federal government, and relocate funds to causes that they deem important.
In fact, the U.S. federal budget was $6.75 trillion, and Musk had pledged to cut “at least $2 trillion,” however, the budget for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has nearly tripled since 2024, and the national defense budget continues to grow to over $874 billion ($54 billion more than 2023). It's clear that Trump is shifting federal spending away from social and public services, and towards border security and defense.
AmeriCorps is more than just a federal program. It is a lifeline for underserved communities, and a launchpad for young Americans who are eager to make a difference. Cutting AmeriCorps funding under the guise of efficiency ignores its real, measurable impact across the nation. While financial accountability is important, the selective targeting of social service programs shows that the Trump Administration is more focused on military might than building a better nation. A government that cares about our country's strength would invest in our communities, not abandon them. It is time that Americans push back against harmful federal cuts and start demanding a government that supports, not sabotages, its citizens.