Last updated on April 30, 2025
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by 25 other attorneys general, filed suit Tuesday to block what the coalition calls the unlawful dismantling of AmeriCorps, a federal agency created by Congress to support community service and address urgent public needs.
The multistate complaint, filed in federal court in the District of Maryland, accuses the Trump administration of exceeding its legal authority by terminating more than $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, placing the majority of the agency’s staff on administrative leave, and effectively freezing operations. Plaintiffs contend the administration’s actions—undertaken by the Corporation for National and Community Service (operating as AmeriCorps) and its interim leader Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi, under direction from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—violate federal law and constitutional principles.
Created in 1993 and expanded under bipartisan legislation, AmeriCorps funds national service programs that support education, disaster recovery, public health, and environmental restoration. The plaintiffs say its dismantling will have immediate effects in schools, clinics, and rural communities.
“AmeriCorps volunteers bring out the best in America and in our communities,” Bonta said in a statement. “By abruptly canceling critical grants and gutting AmeriCorps’ workforce and volunteers, DOGE is dismantling AmeriCorps without any concern for the thousands of people who are ready and eager to serve their country — or for those whose communities are stronger because of this public service.”
The lawsuit describes a rapid sequence of events in April that plaintiffs argue amounted to an agency shutdown by executive fiat. Beginning in mid-April, AmeriCorps halted its National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) operations, issued termination notices to members, and subsequently placed more than 85% of staff on administrative leave. By April 24, it had begun issuing formal Reduction in Force notices. The following day, after business hours, AmeriCorps sent termination letters to State Service Commissions across the country, instructing recipients to cease program operations immediately. According to the complaint, those letters claimed the programs “no longer effectuate[d] agency priorities” and instructed that all member activities cease at once.
The states allege that these steps amount to an unconstitutional power grab by the executive branch, overriding laws Congress passed to protect public service programs and grant recipients. “The Administration’s abrupt decision to dismantle AmeriCorps flouts Congress’s creation of AmeriCorps and assignment of agency duties; usurps Congress’s power of the purse and thereby violates the Constitution’s separation of powers; and arbitrarily and capriciously – without any reasoned analysis – vitiates the agency’s ability to function consistent with its statutory mission and purpose,” the complaint argues.
The effort to dismantle AmeriCorps “also violates a provision of AmeriCorps’ statutory appropriation that requires the agency to make significant changes to program requirements, service delivery or policy only through public notice and comment rulemaking,” the complaint continues.
The complaint also emphasizes that AmeriCorps has canceled grants and halted funding to state commissions without providing the required notice, hearing opportunity, or findings of noncompliance as mandated by 42 U.S.C. § 12636 and 45 C.F.R. § 2540.400. These actions, the states argue, violate binding grant conditions and procedural safeguards put in place to prevent exactly this kind of political interference.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser emphasized the depth of harm to communities across his state. “Thousands of Coloradans have participated in AmeriCorps, serving our veterans, teaching in our classrooms, supporting those in need, and responding to natural disasters,” he said. “By eliminating these programs without lawful justification, the federal government is ignoring the law and hurting our communities.”
The lawsuit follows formal notices received by California and other states on April 25 announcing the immediate termination of AmeriCorps funding. The notices, sent to more than 1,000 programs nationwide, halted services provided by schools, nonprofits, health clinics, food banks, and disaster relief agencies that rely on AmeriCorps grants to recruit and supervise service members.
According to the California Department of Justice, AmeriCorps provided community service opportunities to over 200,000 Americans annually prior to the cuts. In 2024, at least 6,150 California residents served through AmeriCorps at more than 1,200 sites, including public schools, youth centers, shelters, and veterans’ facilities. The agency invested more than $133 million in federal funds in California last year alone.
Governor Gavin Newsom, whose administration supports the legal challenge, condemned the Trump administration’s actions. “These actions by President Trump and Elon Musk not only threaten our funding – they vandalize our values. We’re going to fight to stop them,” Newsom said.
In Colorado, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case, there are 34 active grants that support nearly 1,400 members in all of the state’s counties. “Those members supported nearly 20,000 students, treated over 2,100 acres of public land, restored over 800 miles of trail, and provided human services to 27,000 people,” according to the complaint. “Since 2015, Serve Colorado has awarded nearly $102 million in AmeriCorps grants and has enlisted nearly 12,000 AmeriCorps members in service to the State of Colorado.”
The plaintiffs argue that the president lacks authority to unilaterally dismantle an agency created by Congress and funded through congressional appropriations. By canceling grants and reducing staffing without legislative consent, the administration, the suit claims, has failed in its constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
California, Maryland, Delaware, and Colorado are leading the lawsuit. Additional states participating in the challenge include Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia.
The Serve America Act of 2009, enacted during the Obama administration, expanded AmeriCorps’ authority and capacity. Legal analysts note that the act reflects clear congressional intent to maintain and grow the national service infrastructure, strengthening the plaintiffs’ claim that executive interference in the agency’s core functions is unlawful.
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, asking the court to vacate the grant terminations, halt the planned workforce reductions, and order the restoration of AmeriCorps’ operations consistent with statutory and constitutional obligations. A court date has not yet been scheduled.
“This case tests not just the future of AmeriCorps,” Weiser said, “but whether the executive branch can erase an entire public institution without a single vote in Congress.”
About Author
