On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore AmeriCorps-funded programs in Washington, D.C., and 24 Democratic-led states.
President Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman ruled that these states would likely succeed in their claim that federal law required the agency to provide a notice-and-comment period before making significant cuts.
“As the litigation proceeds, the States cannot simply pause their current and forthcoming disaster response efforts,” wrote Boardman, an appointee of former President Obama who serves in Maryland.
“They will have to fill this void with their own resources,” she continued. “The costs they will incur cannot be recovered at the end of this litigation.”
The states involved are: Maryland, Delaware, California, Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
The order does not stop the administration from putting many of the staffers on administrative leave.
JUST IN: Judge blocks Trump administration effort to dismantle AmeriCorps in 24 states that sued over the steep cuts.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 5, 2025
She concludes that the abrupt cuts, without notice/comment period, violated the law.https://t.co/8JQWWVDl6v pic.twitter.com/VSBvgm8ADa
In April, Townhall covered how staff at AmeriCorps received notices that they were being placed on leave "effective immediately." This came after President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) visited the agency's headquarters.
Reports indicated that AmeriCorps terminated close to $400 million in grants. This was part of DOGE’s overall mission to slash wasteful spending on woke initiatives all across the federal government.