The attorneys general of New York and Connecticut have welcomed a reversal of position by Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As a lawsuit continued to play out in court, OBM now has reversed itself and agreed to release more than $184 million in funding it had been withholding from AmeriCorps, which annually enables an estimated 200,000 Americans to serve their country and community in thousands of public-private programs with local nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations.
Both New York Attorney General Letitia James and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong say that the reversal by OMB is a result of the lawsuit filed by a coalition of 25 states in which they took part.
AmeriCorps has operated since 1993 as an independent federal agency. The programs it funds cover such areas as disaster relief, anti-poverty, education, environmental protection, community health and veteran’s assistance.
New York is due to receive $14.7 million of the $184 million to be released. In Connecticut, as of the 2024 program year, AmeriCorps engaged 2,255 members and volunteers across 253 service locations throughout the state, representing a total investment of $12.4 million.
“This is an important victory for the dedicated AmeriCorps volunteers across the country and the communities they serve each and every day,” James said. “For decades, AmeriCorps has provided critical programs that provide education, health care, and other vital services to those in need.”
Tong said, “In the face of what would have been a blistering legal defeat, the Trump administration chose not to defend the indefensible and will now finally release all $184 million in AmeriCorps funding. This is a good day for programs across Connecticut that have helped stock our food pantries, tutored our kids, assisted homebound seniors, supported our veterans, and helped combat the opioid epidemic. These cuts were irrational, cruel and lawless, and deeply hurtful to people and communities across Connecticut.”
In addition to James and Tong, the coalition that filed the lawsuit consisted of the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
On April 29, the coalition filed a lawsuit in federal court that challenged the administration’s plans to eliminate nearly 90% of AmeriCorps’ workforce, abruptly cancel its contracts, and close $400 million worth of AmeriCorps-supported programs. In June, the court granted a preliminary injunction that reinstated hundreds of AmeriCorps programs that were unlawfully cancelled and barred AmeriCorps from making similar cuts without formal rulemaking. Despite the order, OMB continued to withhold over $184 million intended for outstanding service programs, including AmeriCorps Seniors programs, and many programs funded with highly competitive federal grants. The coalition filed an amended complaint in July to add OMB as a defendant. On August 8, the coalition then filed a motion for preliminary injunction, seeking an order to stop OMB from withholding the funds. OMB’s response was due August 28. However, rather than responding in court, the Trump administration instead agreed to fully release the previously withheld funds as quickly as possible.
