Heinrich, Colleagues Demand Trump Reverse Attacks on AmeriCorps

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Vice Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus and the first AmeriCorps alum to serve in the United States Senate, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Co-Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus, and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 147 of their colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to demand President Trump reverse his recall on NCCC AmeriCorps members and drastic reductions in force across the AmeriCorps agency.

For more than 30 years, AmeriCorps has been our nation’s leading provider of grants that support and promote national service and volunteerism. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers are preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, connecting veterans to services, fighting the opioid epidemic, helping older adults age with dignity, rebuilding communities after disasters, and improving the physical and mental well-being of Americans nationwide.

Last year alone in New Mexico, more than 4,500 Americans of all ages and backgrounds united to meet local needs, strengthen communities, and expand opportunity through national service. AmeriCorps invested more than $12.2 million in federal funding to support cost-effective community solutions, working hand in hand with local partners to empower individuals to help communities tackle their toughest challenges. Learn more about AmeriCorps’ impact on New Mexico here.

“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 senators wrote in their letter to President Donald Trump.

Federal investments in AmeriCorps have delivered positive 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. Furthermore, 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.

The lawmakers concluded the letter by highlighting the devastating impacts Trump’s cuts to AmeriCorps will have on New Mexicans and hardworking people across the country, “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.

The letter is 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:

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.

Sincerely, 

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