One aspect of the 2024 election was that voters selected “change” when they pulled the lever for President Donald Trump.
Trump cleverly ran with a “team” and SpaceX/Tesla CEO Elon Musk was prominent in the group effort. Specifically, Musk’s team brought smart and tech-savvy people into look at the government books. Since Trump took office in January, Musk’s team has uncovered vast swaths of waste, fraud and abuse…and most Americans are shocked and appalled.
But even before the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hit the ground running, one organization was already identified as problematic. In November of 2024, AmeriCorps failed its eighth audit.
This pattern of fiscal dysfunction raises serious questions about AmeriCorps’ ability to operate effectively. Lawmakers—and the incoming Donald Trump Administration should prioritize reviewing AmeriCorps’ operations and consider significant reforms, reductions, or even its elimination to ensure responsible stewardship of public funds.AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, was established by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 during the Bill Clinton Administration. In FY 2024, it received $1.3 billion in taxpayer funding.While the “volunteer” mission of this government agency may sound commendable, it has become a financial liability for American taxpayers, rife with waste, fraud, and abuse. Not only does this translate to inefficient use of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, it also means that the aim of volunteerism and community service intended to help Americans in need throughout the country is not being effectively achieved.
Just to underscore: The agency, established in 1993 and receiving over $1 billion in taxpayer funds each year, had seven chances to correct course. Yet, no change was made.
The DOGE team reviewed the books thoroughly and made a few changes on behalf of the American people.
AmeriCorps placed most staff members on administrative leave with pay this week, effective immediately, according to a staff member and an internal memo shared with The Associated Press.The memo from AmeriCorps’ interim director told staff that the administrative leave would remain in effect until future notice. It was sent Wednesday, the day after the agency’s National Civilian Community Corps members were informed that they would be discharged from their service terms early. The dismissal of young volunteers came as the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency make cuts to government workforce and services.About 15% of the agency’s staff remained active, according to an AmeriCorps staff member who provided the internal communications to the AP on condition of anonymity because the staff member was not authorized to do so. AmeriCorps employs more than 500 full-time federal workers and has an operating budget of roughly $1 billion.“During the period that you are on administrative leave you are not to enter AmeriCorps premises, access AmeriCorps systems, or attempt to use your position or authority with AmeriCorps in any way without my prior permission or prior permission of a supervisor in your chain of command,” the memo reads.
We have already noted California Governor Gavin Newsom’s desperate bids for relevancy and money as the state budget collapses and his time in his current position is term-limited…with that term ending just as the next presidential cycle begins. He has already filed 15 lawsuits in Trump’s second term (and we aren’t even 100 days in yet).
He is now filing a 16th suit to undo the move recommended by the DOGE team. Newsom tried to be hip and edgy in his statement announcing the move by saying Trump was giving volunteers the ‘middle finger’.
California is suing the White House and the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, over cuts being made to AmeriCorps, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., confirmed in a statement.”We’ve gone from the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society to a federal government that gives the middle finger to volunteers serving their fellow Americans. We will sue to stop this,” Newsom said in a statement on his website.Earlier in the week, DOGE announced it was moving to eliminate virtually all jobs within the agency, placing a majority of employees on leave.
Here’s the thing: People can volunteer to help their communities. However, the country cannot endure the scale of waste, fraud and abuse of the system at this scale for much longer. AmeriCorps was not fixable, and needs to be tossed into the ash-heap of history as another progressive policy failure.
According to a Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, 76% of Americans support DOGE-led efforts for a full-scale investigation to root out fraud and waste in government expenditures. DOGE is doing the will of the people.
And, as my colleague Elizabeth Stauffer noted, Californians are tired of Trump-Resistance-Theater.
Therefore, Newsom is giving the “middle finger” to Americans…many of whom live in California.
(Fun Fact: California filed 123 lawsuits against the Trump administration from 2017 to 2020.)
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY