Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (May 13, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today led all members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation—Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Ayanna Presley (MA-07), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09)—in writing to President Trump and Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi, Interim Agency Head of AmeriCorps, to express strong opposition to the Trump administration’s efforts to defund, demobilize, and ultimately eliminate AmeriCorps.

Each year, nearly 200,000 AmeriCorps members serve across the country to help communities recover from disasters, close educational gaps, expand public health programs, and uplift our seniors and veterans. In 2024 alone, 6,400 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers served at more than 800 sites in Massachusetts—including schools, food banks, veterans’ centers, and community institutions. These programs brought in more than $24 million in outside resources to support critical services across the Commonwealth. But last month, the Trump administration terminated nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grants nationwide, demobilized more than 32,000 members and volunteers, and placed most of the agency’s staff on administrative leave. Of the $400 million cut, $8 million would have gone to Massachusetts for at least 17 AmeriCorps programs served by 200 members.

In the letter the lawmakers write, “Across our state, these draconian cuts to AmeriCorps have suddenly stripped schools, shelters, and food banks of support on which they have come to rely. Organizations have been left scrambling to secure alternative funding or face the shuttering of essential initiatives. The cuts are derailing projects that help people, strengthen communities, and protect our planet. Simultaneously, public servants who have committed to AmeriCorps find themselves immediately without stipends, healthcare, or the opportunity to complete their service terms.”

The lawmakers request a response to the following questions by May 20, 2025:

  1. Please provide additional justification for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal to end AmeriCorps altogether.
  2. Will you stop and reverse the DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps and Massachusetts nationwide?
  3. What criteria did DOGE use to determine which AmeriCorps grants to terminate, which members to demobilize, and which staff to place on administrative leave? What role did AmeriCorps leadership play in these decisions?
  4. What is the status of AmeriCorps grants that were not terminated, members not demobilized, and staff not placed on administrative leave?
  5. We understand that neither State Service Commissions—such as the Massachusetts Service Alliance—nor local stakeholders were consulted prior to or following the grant terminations, member demobilizations, and placement of staff on administrative leave. Who was consulted for these decisions? Are there any plans to consult with the Commissions?
  6. Does AmeriCorps intend to address the loss of stipends, health coverage, education awards, and other benefits for the more than 32,000 AmeriCorps members and Seniors volunteers whose service was cut short? If so, how? If not, why not?

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