Federal judge orders Trump to restore funding to Clinton-era agency gutted by DOGE

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore millions of dollars in grant funding for AmeriCorps and to reemploy thousands of employees, ruling that the administration’s abrupt dismantling of the organization violated federal law. 

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman agreed to reinstate thousands of terminated AmeriCorps employees across 24 U.S. states and D.C., which sued the administration earlier this year over the steep cuts to the agency ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

She also ordered the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved funding for AmeriCorps programs, which were also slashed by DOGE earlier this year.

Boardman sided with plaintiffs in ruling that the Trump administration likely violated administrative procedures by ordering the abrupt cancellations and terminations, without a proper notice or comment period. 

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Protesters hold signs during a May Day demonstration and march in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

While the decision does not require the Trump administration to keep the jobs in place indefinitely, it does require it to provide adequate notice before doing so.

AmeriCorps, an agency created by Congress more than two decades ago, had an operating budget of roughly $1 billion prior to this year, when it found itself squarely in the crosshairs of DOGE, the agency previously headed up by Elon Musk and tasked with eliminating wasteful spending.

In granting the preliminary injunction Thursday, Boardman said the 24 states have adequately demonstrated they are likely to suffer “irreparable harm” from the gutting of AmeriCorps, absent court intervention, and that the balance of equities “heavily favors” plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief.

“Any harm the defendants might face if the agency actions are enjoined pales in comparison to the concrete harms that the States and the communities served by AmeriCorps programs have suffered and will continue to suffer,” she said in the ruling. 

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Protesters rally outside the headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The preliminary injunction comes after DOGE in April abruptly announced it would be putting roughly 85% of all AmeriCorps staffers on leave.

It also announced mass Reduction of Force, or RIF, for AmeriCorps staff, and sent notice that they were planning to cut $400 million in grants and other funding from the agency. 

In their lawsuit, attorneys general from the 24 U.S. states and D.C. urged the court to reverse the cuts and terminations across AmeriCorps, citing the risk of irreparable harm, as well as the administration’s failure to properly notify employees of their terminations. 

Plaintiffs alleged that the Trump administration and DOGE had acted beyond the scope of their authority in gutting AmeriCorps, an agency created by Congress, without proper notice. 

They also asked the judge to halt the cuts to roughly $557 million in congressionally approved funding.

Importantly, the judge said Thursday that the order only applies to the states that joined the lawsuit. 

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The news was praised on social media by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who described it as a victory, noting: “Over 200,000 AmeriCorps staff and volunteers work hard every day to care for our communities.”

“This ruling ensures their valuable work can continue,” she said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the decision to halt the cuts to AmeriCorps will “help communities respond to natural disasters, support seniors and veterans, and keep our trails clean across Pennsylvania.”