The Fight to Save AmeriCorps Continues – Contact Your Lawmakers

Posted by Voices for National Service on September 9, 2025

On September 2, the House Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee advanced a fiscal year 2026 bill that proposes to slash AmeriCorps funding by more than 50 percent — eliminating tens of thousands of service positions and stripping communities of critical support in education, disaster response, public health, and more. Read our full statement on the House mark here.

If enacted, this bill would devastate AmeriCorps: halving programs like AmeriCorps State and National, VISTA, NCCC, and AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs, and cutting the National Service Trust — which provides education awards to AmeriCorps members — by more than 75 percent. Communities that depend on AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers to tutor students, rebuild after disasters, and support veterans and seniors would be left without this vital people power.

But this bleak House proposal stands in stark contrast to recent positive developments. Just last month, thanks to more than 112,000 emails from supporters like you and more than 7,000 media hits, the Senate Appropriations Committee drafted a spending bill that sustains investments in AmeriCorps for another year. And last week, the Office of Management and Budget released $200 million in fiscal year 2025 funding that it had been withholding — allowing AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs across the country to fully operate and serve communities. Read our full statement on the OMB release here.

This proves something powerful: your voice makes a difference. Advocacy from the AmeriCorps community has already shaped outcomes in Washington.

Now with conflicting funding proposals on the table, we need to sustain that same energy and turn up the pressure. We need everyone to call on Congress to protect AmeriCorps.

Even if you’ve already taken action, please contact your lawmakers again and urge them to reject cuts to AmeriCorps in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.

Email Your Lawmakers Now

Together, we can make sure AmeriCorps remains strong for the people and communities who depend on it. Thank you for taking a #Stand4Service.