This move will impact 1,031 organisations and approximately 32,465 AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers, the sources said. AmeriCorps’ budget for the 2025 fiscal year is around $1 billion
The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has directed AmeriCorps to cut nearly $400 million in grants, about 41% of the agency’s total funding for grants, according to three individuals familiar with the situation who requested anonymity, The Washington Post reported.
AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. Every year, it enrolls more than 2,00,000 individuals to serve organisations. It was created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, who moved under its umbrella Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), an anti-poverty program established in 1965 by President Lyndon B Johnson.
This move will impact 1,031 organisations and approximately 32,465 AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers, the sources said. AmeriCorps’ budget for the 2025 fiscal year is around $1 billion.
Termination notices for the grants started going out Friday. Recipients were told that their award “no longer effectuates agency priorities,” according to notices reviewed by The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday issued a statement after California received notice from the federal government of termination of its AmeriCorps grant programmes.
“Last week, Governor Newsom announced that as the Trump Administration dismantles the AmeriCorps service program, California will both challenge the illegal action in court and accelerate recruitment for the California Service Corps program — already the largest service corps in the nation, surpassing the size of the Peace Corps. When the devastating fires struck Los Angeles earlier this year, AmeriCorps members were on the ground, distributing supplies and supporting families. The agency’s shutdown hamstrings these efforts,” the statement said.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) also expressed disappointment at the cuts and said that although he supports “eliminating waste,” he would object to cutting AmeriCorps grants.
In a post on X on Saturday, Cassidy wrote, “Getting various reports that DOGE RIFs at @AmeriCorps are being extended to the cancellation of Congressionally appropriated grants. Attempting to get more information from DOGE/OMB to confirm or disprove these reports. I support improving efficiency and eliminating waste, but I would have to object to cutting AmeriCorps grants like those that support Louisiana’s veterans and organisations that provide crucial support after hurricanes and natural disasters.”
Meanwhile, Protesters across the United States and Europe have gathered outside Tesla dealerships to express their opposition to billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement in the US government.
Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has faced criticism for his efforts to cut government spending and access sensitive data.
The protests, organised by a group including disgruntled Tesla owners, celebrities, and a Democratic lawmaker, aim to pressure Musk to resign from his government position. Saturday’s demonstrations marked the first coordinated effort to target all 277 Tesla locations in the US.
In New York City, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Manhattan Tesla store, demanding Musk’s resignation. These demonstrations coincide with a decline in Tesla sales, which the organizers hope to exacerbate further.
The protesters were gathered at the call of environmentalists from Planet Over Profit, who believe that “stopping Musk will save lives and protect our democracy.”
According to Al Jazeera, for Amy Neifeld, a 70-year-old American psychologist who had not taken to the streets since the anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1970s, Elon Musk is leading the United States towards “fascism.”
“I’m Jewish, and I grew up with a deep awareness of what fascism is. And it’s only gotten worse since the election” of Donald Trump,” she told.
“We have to do something very quickly because he’s moving very quickly,” Neifeld added. In London, about two dozen protesters held signs lambasting Musk outside a Tesla dealership as passing cars and trucks tooted horns in support.
One of the signs displayed at the London protest showed a photo of Musk next to an image of Adolf Hitler making the Nazi salute — a gesture that Musk has been accused of reprising shortly after Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
Some people opposed to Musk have gone beyond protests and set Tesla vehicles on fire and committed other acts of vandalism that US Attorney General Pam Bondi has decried as “domestic terrorism”. Musk indicated he was dumbfounded by the attacks during a March 20 company meeting and said the vandals should “stop acting psycho”.
