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After a protracted legal battle with President Donald Trump’s administration, AmeriCorps service and volunteer programs in Washington have been made financially whole again.
The federal government agreed Thursday to release more than $184 million for AmeriCorps service programs around the country, restoring more than $21 million in total funding for Washington in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, according to state Attorney General Nick Brown’s office.
In Washington, AmeriCorps members work at an assortment of sites, including at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service in Southeast Seattle, Orcas Island Food Bank in the San Juan Islands, Gonzaga University in Spokane and public schools in Walla Walla.
Until April, they were active in at least 32 of Washington’s 39 counties.
As part of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash federal spending, it ordered the cancellations this spring of hundreds of millions of dollars in AmeriCorps grants that had already been awarded to states and community organizations.
AmeriCorps is a federal service program established under President Bill Clinton in 1993, similar to a domestic Peace Corps, that was designed to get more Americans involved in community service. AmeriCorps supports about 200,000 participants each year, including about 1,300 members at approximately 800 sites in Washington, according to Gov. Bob Ferguson.
The program’s funding pays for direct-service corps members to receive living allowances, which can range from $18,700 to $37,400 per year, plus health benefits. Due to Trump’s cuts, they were no longer being paid.
Two dozen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the federal government in April claiming the Trump administration failed to provide proper notice for the cuts and overreached into Congress’s authority.
A U.S. District Court judge sided in June with the Democratic-led states and ordered the federal government to restore the canceled grants.
But there was uncertainty whether the federal government would listen.
According to Washington’s attorney general, the White House Office of Management and Budget continued to withhold more than $184 million despite the judge’s order.
So the states filed an amended lawsuit in July adding the federal budget agency as a defendant. Instead of filing a response, the Trump Administration said it would release all AmeriCorps money.
“It is great news that Washington state prevailed in this case and freed up millions of dollars to continue this public service lifeline,” Brown said in a news release. “Communities throughout Washington depend on the hard work of AmeriCorps volunteers.”
Seattle Times reporter Daniel Beekman contributed reporting.
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