The attorneys general from Oregon and Washington are joining a coalition of states in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s recent attempts to dismantle AmeriCorps.
Moves to gut the 32-year-old federal volunteer agency have come quickly over the past two weeks, according to court documents.
AmeriCorps leaders have placed members in its landmark national volunteer program, as well as the vast majority of its staff, on administrative leave. Pink slips were issued last week. And late Friday, the agency began notifying states that nearly $400 million in grants for AmeriCorps projects had been terminated.
The cuts appear to be a response to an executive order, signed in February, directing federal agencies to reduce their workforce.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges these actions were illegal, unconstitutional and violate the Administrative Procedures Act. In a statement, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said cuts to public programs cannot be made on a whim.
“AmeriCorps represents the best of what it means to be an American: service, sacrifice and community,” Rayfield said. “Gutting this critical work doesn’t just eliminate jobs or opportunities – it tears at the fabric of civic engagement and disproportionately harms vulnerable communities.”
Washington’s Attorney General Nick Brown shared a similar view.
“AmeriCorps provides hope and belonging in American communities nationwide,” Brown said in a statement. “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.”
In a statement released Tuesday evening, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said the cuts would affect around 800 service sites “touching virtually every corner of our state.” Ferguson called the AmeriCorps cuts “reckless and unlawful.”
In the 2024-25 award year, Oregon received nearly $4.5 million in federal grants from AmeriCorps, according to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. HECC administers the grants through OregonServes, the state’s service commission.
The grants go toward a variety of service projects throughout the state. Oregon’s AmeriCorps volunteers serve as mentors and tutors to K-12 students, provide support services to people experiencing homelessness and help implement environmental sustainability plans in rural communities.
About half of the state’s AmeriCorps funds, $2.6 million, have yet to be allocated to grant recipients. And with last Friday’s termination notice, those funds have effectively been frozen.
The notice directed states to “immediately cease all award activities” and to “document that [each] member was exited for compelling personal circumstances due to the agency’s termination of the grant and program closure,” according to documents filed with the lawsuit.
A spokesperson with HECC said the agency is still assessing the notice and potential impacts it could have on Oregon.
For now, the state has not advised AmeriCorps grantees to make changes to their programming.
“HECC has informed grantees that the agency cannot guarantee that the state will be able to reimburse expenses incurred after April 28 should they be disallowed by federal AmeriCorps,” wrote the agency on its website. “Grantees may assess risks internally and make a decision that makes the most sense for their program.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.