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MATSUI AND COLLEAGUES URGE PRESIDENT TRUMP TO REVERSE AMERICORPS CUTS

Tree-lined side of the Capitol building
April 23, 2025
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07), Co-Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus, led 149 lawmakers in sending a letter to President Donald Trump defending AmeriCorps and NCCC AmeriCorps members and calling on him to reverse cuts to the program made last week by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

The letter was also led by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Co-Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus, U.S. Senator  Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Vice Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. 

 The Trump Administration placed a majority of AmeriCorps employees on leave last week as part of DOGE’s broader spending cuts. Programs such as AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors deploy more than 200,000 Americans annually to carry out results-driven projects at over 35,000 locations across the country. Working in partnership with thousands of non-profit, faith-based, and community organizations, these dedicated volunteers and workers help promote employment opportunities, strengthen the workforce, and support those in need.  

“We are deeply concerned these actions will prevent the agency from continuing to deliver critical services, which include supporting veterans, fighting wildfires, tutoring in schools, combatting the fentanyl epidemic, and much more,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The lawmakers highlighted the program’s benefits to society, to AmeriCorps members, and to the federal government—pointing to a non-partisan study showing that there are an estimated $17 in benefits returned for every taxpayer dollar spent. Additionally, the recently passed Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 maintains AmeriCorps funding at its Fiscal Year 2024 level and serves as a continuing resolution to extend federal government funding through the end of Fiscal Year 2025. The lawmakers emphasized that the administration is expected to implement the law in a manner consistent with the funding levels enacted in Fiscal Year 2024. Failure to do so would be a violation of the law.

 “If not reversed, these recent actions will both stop current programs and prevent timely and efficient execution of the agency’s Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations, delaying or even halting the recruitment and deployment of new AmeriCorps members around the country,” the lawmakers continued.

 AmeriCorps programs serve communities nationwide, including in California, where roughly 7,000 AmeriCorps members provide intensive service at AmeriCorps programs in over 1,000 locations, including schools, non-profits, public agencies, and community centers across the state. If the Trump Administration's actions aren't reversed, these critical services could come to a halt.

 “We are deeply concerned that this is the goal: to eliminate AmeriCorps, in direct conflict with recently enacted appropriations. However, even delays will disrupt programs Americans rely on for their health, education, and safety. We urge you to reverse these actions and instead work with Congress on bipartisan improvements to AmeriCorps so that more Americans have the opportunity to serve their communities,” the lawmakers concluded. 

  You can read the full text of the letter here and below.

Dear President Trump:

We write to express our strong support for AmeriCorps and urge you to reverse both the recall of all NCCC AmeriCorps members and the recently implemented drastic reductions in force across the AmeriCorps agency. We are deeply concerned these actions will prevent the agency from continuing to deliver critical services, which include supporting veterans, fighting wildfires, tutoring in schools, combatting the fentanyl epidemic, and much more.

For more than thirty years, AmeriCorps has been our nation’s leading provider of grants that support and promote national service and volunteerism. Through programs like AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors, more than 200,000 Americans participate in results-driven service projects at more than 35,000 locations across the country each year. Working hand in hand with thousands of nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations, these dedicated Americans recruit and manage millions of additional volunteers as they work to promote employment opportunities, prepare a better-trained workforce, and provide essential services to veterans, children, and seniors. AmeriCorps’ track record of delivering for Americans has earned broad and longstanding support from business leaders, mayors, and governors of both parties.

AmeriCorps is a public-private partnership that leverages approximately $1 billion in matched resources from the private sector, foundations, and local agencies to support organizations across the country working in creative ways to tackle our most persistent and costly challenges. While it is important the agency continues to make measurable progress toward an improved audit performance, federal investments in AmeriCorps already deliver returns for the American people. A 2020 study found that for every one dollar that Congress appropriates to AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs, they return over $17 in benefits to society, program members, and the government. Further, the AmeriCorps programs are a smart investment in our country’s future. AmeriCorps service allows members to gain marketable job skills in high-demand fields and pursue higher education, preparing more Americans to succeed in the workforce.

We have seen firsthand the critical impact these programs have across the states we represent. We urge the administration to continue implementing the statutory requirements of the national service laws:

  • Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, Public Law 93-113.
  • National and Community Service Act of 1990, Public Law 101-610.
  • National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, Public Law 103-82.
  • Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, Public Law 111-13.

Additionally, Congress recently passed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025, which maintained funding for AmeriCorps at its Fiscal Year 2024 level. We expect that the administration will implement this law in a manner consistent with the allocations enacted in Fiscal Year 2024. However, we have grave concerns that significant reductions in force will prevent AmeriCorps from being able to effectively and efficiently award appropriated funding to programs operating in communities across the country.

We are deeply concerned by reports that a majority of AmeriCorps staff have been placed on administrative leave and that more than 750 NCCC members have already been recalled from their field assignments. Many of these volunteers were working in disaster response roles, including building homes for individuals who lost theirs in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. If not reversed, these recent actions will both stop current programs and prevent timely and efficient execution of the agency’s fiscal year 2025 appropriations, delaying or even halting the recruitment and deployment of new AmeriCorps members around the country. We are deeply concerned that is the goal: to eliminate AmeriCorps, in direct conflict with recently enacted appropriations. However, even delays will disrupt programs Americans rely on for their health, education, and safety. We urge you to reverse these actions and instead work with Congress on bipartisan improvements to AmeriCorps so that more Americans have the opportunity to serve their communities.

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