Millions in AmeriCorps funding will be released after lawsuit

New Mexico organizations will get $2 million in withheld AmeriCorps funding that the Trump administration abruptly terminated in the spring.

New Mexico was one of 24 states that sued the Trump administration to preserve the federal volunteerism agency in April after $400 million in AmeriCorps grants were zeroed out and many of the agency’s staff were placed on leave.

In June, the U.S. District Court of Maryland granted a preliminary injunction to reinstate canceled AmeriCorps programs for states that sued, but the Office of Management and Budget continued to withhold more than $184 million from the program. After OMB was added to the lawsuit in July and states asked the court to stop it from holding the money back, the Trump administration released the funds.

“I’m glad that it’s back,” said Jennifer Martinez, executive director of the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy Foundation.

The Albuquerque Sign Language Academy was one of at least 11 New Mexico-based organizations relying on AmeriCorps volunteers. In this case, the school’s foundation was supposed to get over $200,000 to support the work of volunteers who would teach classes to adults with developmental disabilities at a newly launched workforce training center.

The released grant funds will also come to organizations in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Taos and Ruidoso.

“From helping families recover after devastating wildfires and other natural disasters to mentoring youth, supporting special education, preparing teachers, and providing services for at-risk and homeless youth, AmeriCorps volunteers are essential to our communities,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez, whose office was part of the coalition that filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.

The federal agency encourages national service and volunteerism by providing cost of living stipends to volunteers who help with community projects and respond to natural disasters. Some volunteers can earn an educational scholarship through their service.

AmeriCorps has long enjoyed bipartisan support, but also has been criticized for inefficiency and misusing funds.

“President Trump has the legal right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,” Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, said in an email shortly after the cuts were announced.

The White House pointed to improper payments reported by AmeriCorps, totaling more than $40 million in 2024, and attributed to insufficient documentation from grantees, calculation errors and miscoded expenses as grounds for terminating the program, The Associated Press reported.

After the grants were terminated, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions stepped in to help some of the AmeriCorps volunteers complete their service despite the cuts, Martinez said. Some of the AmeriCorps members transitioned to a pre-apprenticeship program, which gave them an hourly rate to keep teaching classes.

The AmeriCorps grants include matching funds from organizations receiving them. For the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy Foundation that was an 11% match, but some organizations have higher match requirements.

The injunction required the federal government and organizations with grants to pay out the living allowances for volunteers, including volunteers who had been told to go home instead of serving, Martinez said.

“I think in the end, cutting it off completely the way that it happened ended up actually doing more harm and didn’t save any money,” Martinez said.

Some of the AmeriCorps volunteers had already begun their service when grants were terminated in the middle of an ongoing grant cycle, but two volunteers at the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy had been about to start their service. Months later, they finally are.

Although funds have been restored, Martinez thinks the disruption affected AmeriCorps recruitment. Still, she has faith in the future of the national service and volunteerism program.

“Right now, I’m actually feeling fairly confident that there’s been enough national support that the program is not just going to go away entirely,” Martinez said.