DELAWARE - A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that restores funding to AmeriCorps programs that were targeted for elimination under cuts proposed by the Trump Administration.
In her ruling, Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland found that the administration likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and that the proposed cuts would cause irreparable harm to states and communities relying on AmeriCorps services.
Under the injunction, the federal government must reinstate all terminated grants and reinstate displaced AmeriCorps members, including those in Delaware. That includes participants in AmeriCorps VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps.
Nine Delaware-based organizations faced more than $1 million in funding losses before the court intervened. This included:
Reading Assist ($305,370)
Children’s Beach House ($283,500)
WeProsper Family Organization ($132,300)
Leading Youth Through Empowerment ($130,941)
Literacy Volunteers Serving Adults Northern Delaware ($129,330)
West End Neighborhood House ($120,879)
TeenSHARP ($49,140)
Family Promise of Northern New Castle County ($40,721)
Spur Impact Association ($40,720)
“We’re deeply grateful for Attorney General Jennings and Delaware’s ongoing support of our tutors and students,” said Caroline O’Neal, CEO of Reading Assist. “Our dedicated Fellows help change lives and we need to preserve this incredible program. This year, 90 percent of students reached key reading benchmarks, and 83 percent of kindergarteners are now reading on grade level.”
Attorney General Kathy Jennings, who led the multi-state lawsuit, celebrated the ruling as a win.
“'Saving’ fractions of a penny by defunding children’s literacy programs, while going to the mat to rack up trillions in deficits for handouts to billionaires, tells you all you need to know about this president’s priorities. The AmeriCorps cuts had no basis in necessity, logic, or moral purpose. The Court recognized that, and today the rule of law won.” said Jennings.
The April lawsuit, filed by Delaware, Maryland, California and Colorado, with support from states like New York and Michigan, challenged the Trump Administration's move to reduce the AmeriCorps workforce by nearly 90 percent. The suit argued the reduction would devastate essential community programs supported by AmeriCorps, including literacy initiatives, disaster recovery, job training and public health outreach.
The ruling is a temporary reversal, with the lawsuit expected to continue making its way through the courts.