Washington AG fights Trump’s dismantling of AmeriCorps

Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s February executive order that effectively dismantles AmeriCorps.

According to The Associated Press (AP), AmeriCorps covers volunteers’ basic expenses, including housing, meals, and a “limited health benefit,” as well as a “modest” living allowance. The program also provides members who complete their 1,700-hour service term with funding for future education expenses or to apply to certain student loans. That benefit was valued at about $7,300 this service year.

AmeriCorps placed most staff members on administrative leave with pay this month, effective immediately, according to a staff member and an internal memo shared with The AP.

The media outlet reported that about 15% of the agency’s staff remained active, according to an AmeriCorps staff member who provided internal communications to The AP on condition of anonymity because the staff member was not authorized to do so. AmeriCorps employs more than 500 full-time federal workers and has an operating budget of roughly $1 billion.

“AmeriCorps provides hope and belonging in American communities nationwide,” Brown said. “It gives inspiration and purpose to the young people who join its ranks annually. But the president thinks public programs and public dollars are his to do with what he will, snatching them up through the same scheming that federal courts have already said is likely illegal.”

White House terminates AmeriCorps grant programs

According to a news release from Brown’s office, on April 25, the federal government notified Washington that it had terminated its AmeriCorps grant programs, which support volunteer and service efforts.

“In the complaint, Attorney General Brown and the multistate coalition argue that by abruptly canceling critical grants and gutting AmeriCorps’ workforce,” the release said. “The Trump Administration is effectively shuttering the national volunteer agency and ending the states’ abilities to support AmeriCorps programs.”

The release goes on to state, “the Trump Administration acted illegally in its gutting of AmeriCorps, violating both the Administrative Procedures Act and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.”

Washington is joining the lawsuit alongside more than 20 attorneys general, including Maryland, Delaware, California, Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, as well as Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

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