WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement in response to reports that President Donald Trump has placed a majority of AmeriCorps agency staff on administrative leave. Trump had already recalled hundreds of AmeriCorps NCCC members trained to respond to emergencies from the field:
“President Trump’s attempted destruction of AmeriCorps is alarming and will damage communities across the nation. For more than 30 years, in more than 50,000 communities, AmeriCorps members and volunteers have made our country stronger, healthier, and more resilient. AmeriCorps members are relief workers on the front lines of natural disasters, teachers improving literacy in schools, and health care workers in underserved communities. There are few better examples of government working strategically and efficiently to improve the lives of those they serve.
“The men and women who serve AmeriCorps as volunteers, members, and staff deserve our thanks. Instead, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are once again turning their backs on the very people who make our country great. I am working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to press the Trump Administration to reverse these unjustified cuts and restore a valued program.”
A 2020 non-partisan study found that for every $1 Congress appropriates to AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, the programs return more than $17 to the government and economy.
Senator Coons is co-Chair of the Senate National Service Caucus.