About two dozen states, including Minnesota, sued the Trump administration Tuesday over the dismantling of AmeriCorps, the 30-year-old federal agency for volunteer service, and over the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding for state and community projects across the U.S.
The federal lawsuit was filed against the agency and its interim head by Democratic state officials. It alleges that President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency illegally gutted the agency created by Congress and reneged on grants funded through the AmeriCorps State and National program, which was budgeted $557 million in congressionally approved funding this year.
The agency oversees a number of programs that dispatch hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of people to serve in communities across the country.
“AmeriCorps members in Minnesota tutor students in reading and math, help build affordable housing, teach digital literacy to Minnesotans to improve their economic opportunities, and so much more,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. “The work done by AmeriCorps is an outstanding example of the American government delivering for Minnesotans and I will not sit back and allow Donald Trump to dismantle this essential agency.”
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At least 85 percent of AmeriCorps staff were put on administrative leave this month, according to the complaint, with at least some notified last week that they would be let go because of a reduction in force.
The White House on Tuesday pointed to improper payments reported by AmeriCorps, totaling over $40 million in 2024 and attributed to insufficient documentation from grantees, calculation errors and miscoded expenses.
“President Trump has the legal right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,” Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said in an email.
AmeriCorps employs more than 500 full-time federal workers and has an operating budget of about $1 billion.
In addition, it sends roughly 200,000 corps members across the country as part of its service programs. Most corps members get a living stipend during their service and become eligible for funding for future education expenses or to apply for certain student loans.
A specific program, AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, also covers basic expenses and housing for some 2,000 young people participating in a roughly 10-month service term. Those corps members, who work with community organizations and respond to natural disasters, were informed earlier this month they would be dismissed early.
Duluth-based Ecolibrium3 used AmeriCorps members for workforce development and energy efficiency work. CEO Jodi Slick said the cuts mean the immediate loss of 21 AmeriCorps members who had been helping with a variety of community projects, including efforts to reduce poverty and help people in need reduce their energy bills.
“It’s really even hard to capture in words how disappointed, frustrated, shocked, angry we are,” she said.
Slick said Ecolibrium3 is gathering donations to help its now out-of-work AmeriCorps team members make the transition to other volunteer or work opportunities.
“We’re just trying to figure out what our next steps are and what Ecolibrium3 can be moving forward. Without a doubt, our organization cannot provide the services we have in the past,” she said.
Nationwide, as part of the AmeriCorps State and National grant program, state volunteer commissions distributed more than $177 million in formula-based distributions, as well as $370 million in competitive grants that supported nearly 35,000 corps members serving at 300 organizations, according to announcements in May.
Notices of grants being terminated were sent late Friday, explaining “the award no longer effectuates agency priorities” and directing grantees to immediately shut down the projects, according to a copy reviewed by the Associated Press.
Corps members would no longer be participating in the program and would no longer receive a stipend.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to each of the 52 state and territory volunteer commissions were impacted, according to Rachel Bruns, chief engagement officer with America’s Service Commissions. That includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam; South Dakota does not have a state volunteer commission.
Bruns said commissions in Wisconsin, Alabama, Wyoming, Oregon and Maine have reported that their entire portfolios for that grant program have been cut.
There was no “rhyme or reason” given to the grantees that were affected, Bruns said, noting that there are cases of one organization seeing their funding cut in one state but not another. The cuts affect projects like after-school programs, services for veterans, food pantries, efforts to prevent child abuse and home builds.
“We don’t know what this means for these services in some of these communities that were impacted,” Bruns said.
