April 30, 2025

Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Slam Illegal DOGE Cuts to AmeriCorps

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined their Congressional colleagues in an effort led by Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) to defend AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members. The lawmakers are calling on President Trump to immediately reverse cuts to the critical national service agency made by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Central Oregon-based nonprofit Heart of Oregon Corps (HOC), which supports 225 youth annually in workforce development, is experiencing the effects of DOGE’s AmeriCorps cuts. Operating in four Oregon counties and working with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, HOC relies heavily on AmeriCorps national and state grants to drive crucial projects in conservation, wildfire fuels reduction, affordable housing, and childcare. Without federal investment through AmeriCorps in the short term, HOC would need to eliminate up to 60 current or planned AmeriCorps service terms for local youth in our corps in their High Desert Conservation Corps and YouthBuild programs. Further, if pending new grant applications for this upcoming fall are not processed, up to 100 more service terms for local Central Oregon youth and young adults would be affected, from Warm Springs and Madras to Bend, from Sisters to Prineville.

The lawmakers’ urgent demand comes as the Trump Administration recently placed a majority of AmeriCorps employees on leave, and dismantled AmeriCorps NCCC. The move jeopardizes work being done to address urgent community challenges, including workforce shortages and natural disaster recovery and response, while robbing young people of life-changing opportunities.

“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 lawmakers wrote.

AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors deploy more than 200,000 Americans annually to carry out results-driven projects at over 35,000 locations across the country. In Oregon, more than 1,800 folks of all ages and backgrounds served at over 300 sites statewide through AmeriCorps programs in 2024 alone. This service was backed by $11.4 million in federal investments and another $4.4 million in support from businesses, foundations, public agencies, and other sources.

The?lawmakers are hearing these concerns across the nation. Their letter to President Trump highlighted the program’s benefits to society, to AmeriCorps members, and to the economy, as it’s estimated $17 in benefits are returned for every taxpayer dollar spent.

Additionally, Congress recently passed and the President signed into law a funding bill that maintains AmeriCorps funding through the end of Fiscal Year 2025. The Senators emphasized that the Trump Administration is expected to implement the law in a manner consistent with the funding levels enacted in Fiscal Year 2024. Failing to do so would be a violation of the law.

“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,” the lawmakers added.

The lawmakers are making the push for the Trump Administration to reverse course and restore AmeriCorps programs for all the communities in Oregon and across the country that have long depended on AmeriCorps to meet critical needs, deliver essential services, and drive lasting change. If the Trump Administration's actions aren't reversed, youth development would suffer and the foundation of Oregon's rural and urban communities alike that is needed when disasters like wildfires strike would be eroded.

“We are deeply concerned that this 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,” the lawmakers concluded.

In addition to Merkley, Wyden, and Coons, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.).?Additionally, 105 U.S. House Representatives signed on. 

You can read the full text of the letter here.

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