AmeriCorps-funded activities nationwide have included community cleanups.
A federal judge has barred AmeriCorps from terminating its grant funding of a Louisiana nonprofit group, concluding that the Trump administration’s cut in funding likely violated federal law and the group’s due-process rights.
Judge John W. deGravelles granted Serve Louisiana’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the federal agency, which is also known as the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Baton Rouge-based judge’s June 27 ruling follows an AmeriCorp’s notification to its grant fund recipients nationwide in April that nearly $400 million would be terminated from the grant program.
Serve Louisiana, which employs 37 AmeriCorps members who work with 18 nonprofit and community groups in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, later sued the federal agency, arguing that the agency’s actions violated both its due-process rights under the Constitution and the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The reason AmeriCorps gave for its termination of grant funding to Serve Louisiana was “because (AmeriCorps) has been determined that the award no longer effectuates agency priorities.” DeGravelles rejected the explanation as inadequate.
“AmeriCorps may have the right to undertake different policy priorities, provided that it does so in accordance with all legal requirements such as notice and comment,” the judge said in his ruling. “However, if AmeriCorps chooses to terminate existing grants because they do not comply with new policy priorities, it is still required to follow both the standards set forth by the APA and those standards that AmeriCorps has set forth for itself.”
Plaintiff’s attorney Donald Hodge said deGravelles’ opinion was a win for the rule of law.
“It affirms that executive agencies cannot override congressional funding directives without proper notice, comment or justification,” Hodge said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “More importantly, this injunction is a win for communities across Louisiana. AmeriCorps members power hundreds of service projects daily – from tutoring children in under-resourced schools to hurricane relief – and today, those volunteers can return to serving their neighbors.”
Congress created the AmeriCorps program during former President Bill Clinton’s administration by passing the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. It had a mission “to improve lives, strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.” according to the court decision.
“We applaud the court’s recognition that Serve Louisiana and its members have a right to rely on the funding Congress appropriated, and we look forward to getting boots back on the ground immediately,” Hodge said.
DeGravelles’ opinion noted that the defendants in the lawsuit, including the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), offered no details about AmeriCorps’ change in priorities.
“Indeed, counsel for defendants admitted during oral argument that the explanation given of the agency's change in priorities justifying the termination was ‘lacking,’ the opinion states. “Plaintiff therefore has a substantial likelihood of success on its claim that the termination was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA.”
It was unclear whether the Serve Louisiana case would have a bearing on the termination of other AmeriCorps grant recipients in the state.
