California will join a coalition of states Tuesday in suing the Trump administration over massive cuts to AmeriCorps, the federal program that each year deploys hundreds of thousands of volunteers to natural disaster sites and other needy communities nationwide, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said.
Bonta said the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency were acting unlawfully by unilaterally axing a program established and funded by Congress to support devastated parts of the country at their greatest time of need, such as Los Angeles after its recent wildfires.
“By abruptly canceling critical grants and gutting AmeriCorps’ workforce and volunteers, DOGE is dismantling AmeriCorps without any concern for the thousands of people who are ready and eager to serve their country — or for those whose communities are stronger because of this public service,” Bonta said in a statement.
“California has repeatedly taken action to hold the Trump Administration and DOGE accountable to the law,” he said, “and we stand prepared to do it again to protect AmeriCorps and the vital services it provides.”
The lawsuit makes good on a promise from Gov. Gavin Newsom nearly two weeks ago that the state would sue over AmeriCorps’s dismantling, which Newsom called a “middle finger to volunteers serving their fellow Americans.”
Landing on Trump’s 100th day in office, the lawsuit is the 16th filed by Bonta’s office against the current administration — a blistering pace of litigation that puts the state at the forefront of the Democratic Trump resistance. California has been joined by other states in all but one of those lawsuits, and has formally backed litigants against the administration in nearly 20 additional cases, too.
The Trump administration recently denounced California’s barrage of lawsuits in a statement to the Times, calling the litigation a misguided attempt to block the president’s agenda.
“In recent years, California dreams have transformed into California nightmares of skyrocketing crime and dystopian scenes of homelessness and open-air drug use,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “The Trump administration is trying to restore American Greatness, and if California Democrats would work with us — or at least not waste taxpayer resources to grandstand in the way — the people of California would be infinitely better off.”
Since he took office in January, Trump — with the help of DOGE and billionaire advisor Elon Musk — has been trying to reduce the size of the federal government, arguing that waste and fraud are rampant, especially in “woke” programs that support liberal ideologies or provide government assistance. In pursuit of that vision, Trump in February issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to radically scale down their operations.
Since then, AmeriCorps has placed about 85% of its workforce on administrative leave and notified employees that they would be terminated as of June, Bonta’s office said. And on Friday, California and more than 1,000 volunteers working on AmeriCorps grants in the state were notified by the administration that those grants had been terminated, Bonta’s office said.
Democrats, including many state attorneys general, have contended the DOGE effort usurps Congress’s power over the federal purse strings, and is an error-riddled assault on government services that will harm average Americans to pay for a tax break for the rich.
In announcing the AmeriCorps lawsuit, Bonta’s office alleged widespread harm to California, where the program invested more than $133 million last year, largely through partnerships with local groups and organizations.
More than 6,150 California members of AmeriCorps were dispatched to more than 1,200 locations last year, Bonta’s office said, including food banks, shelters, youth centers, schools and churches, Bonta’s office said.
“When the Los Angeles fires devastated millions earlier this year, AmeriCorps members showed up to distribute supplies and support families — until the Trump Administration ended the program and sent them home on hours notice,” Bonta’s office said.
AmeriCorps deploys some 200,000 volunteers nationwide, according to its website. The agency’s National Civilian Community Corps employs more than 2,000 young Americans aged 18 to 26, who serve 10-month service terms. AmeriCorps covers basic expenses, including housing, meals and some health benefits, pays what it calls a “modest” living allowance, and covers some future education expenses — about $7,300 worth this service year — for members who complete terms of 1,700 hours of service.
Newsom’s office has said that, during the 2023-24 service year, nearly 6,300 AmeriCorps members in California performed nearly 4.4 million service hours, in which they tutored and mentored nearly 74,000 students, provided education and employment support to 17,000 foster children and youth, and planted nearly 40,000 trees.
AmeriCorps volunteers also have assisted 26,000 households negatively impacted by the Los Angeles fires, Newsom’s office said, including by packing 21,000 food boxes.
Bonta’s office is leading the lawsuit, which the states intend to file Tuesday, along with the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware and Maryland.
In addition to suing over the AmeriCorps cuts, Newsom has said that California also is accelerating recruitment for its California Service Corps program — though that, too, relies on federal funding.
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