President Bill Clinton once asserted in 1999 that AmeriCorps, the federal paid volunteer program, is a testament to the power of unity and belief, stating that if "we hold hands and believe .
.. we can change anything we want to change.".
However, after over three decades of allegations of fraud, false claims, and political racketeering, AmeriCorps has recently been dealt a significant blow by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly has publicly criticized the program, stating, "AmeriCorps has failed eight consecutive audits and is entrusted with over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars every year." In 2014, the agencys Office of Inspector General condemned AmeriCorps for its "shocking waste of taxpayer funds, lax oversight, unauthorized contractual commitments and widespread noncompliance with rules, regulations and sound contracting practices."
Since then, the situation has only deteriorated. DOGE has frozen $400 million in grants to over a thousand organizations, resulting in the termination of more than 30,000 AmeriCorps members. The majority of AmeriCorps staff have either resigned or been placed on paid leave.
AmeriCorps has become a prime target for DOGE due to its seemingly endless series of questionable projects. For instance, in Missouri, AmeriCorps members released 70 blue balloons outside a county courthouse to raise awareness for the plight of abused children.
Hundreds of Playworks AmeriCorps members served as elementary school "recess referees," promoting "safe and inclusive play to all students." In Florida, AmeriCorps members in the "Women in Distress" program organized a poetry reading to highlight the evils of domestic violence.
Despite federal agencies being prohibited from funding political advocacy, AmeriCorps has been involved with organizations such as ACORN, the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition, the Political Asylum Project of Austin, the National Association of HUD Tenants, and Planned Parenthood. AmeriCorps members have been found distributing free condoms and providing escort services for women visiting abortion clinics.
Over the years, I have documented AmeriCorps numerous controversies in various publications, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Playboy, and American Spectator. After President Clinton boasted that AmeriCorps members had taught millions of children how to read, I visited one of their premier literacy programs in West Virginia. There, AmeriCorps members categorically denied teaching children how to read, claiming instead that they were merely exposing children to books.
In Mississippi, I attended the launch of an AmeriCorps assistant teacher training program where the only requirement for recruits was to read at an 8th-grade level. The programs grant application was riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. According to Fox News, AmeriCorps claims that "national service returns up to $17 for every federal dollar invested" in the program. However, the formula even counts the stipends paid to AmeriCorps recruits as if they would never find a paying job elsewhere. The assumptions used to justify the $17/$1 multiplier are questionable at best, especially considering the lack of clarity regarding the allocation of federal funds.
In 1999, I visited a leading AmeriCorps program that received $600,000 to recruit people for food stamps. After the executive director of the Mississippi program evaded my questions, I alerted the Inspector General. It was later discovered that AmeriCorps funds were used to pay 14 ghost employees, including a local mayor, who contributed nothing to the program. The head of the local agency was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison.
AmeriCorps continues to struggle with distinguishing between genuine and fictitious "service." During the first Trump administration, the Inspector General warned of widespread fraud involving "teleservice" AmeriCorps members claiming to have performed good deeds over the phone. Many grantees made no effort to verify the purported hours served. In response, AmeriCorps management recommended "immediate contact between the member and individuals to whom services are rendered."
The Government Accountability Office has criticized AmeriCorps for failing to "demonstrate results" and ignoring "the quality of service provided" by its members. Despite this, AmeriCorps recruits are often portrayed as financial martyrs. Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a former AmeriCorps member, argues that serving in AmeriCorps provides valuable experience that can be leveraged in the civilian economy. However, she was part of the Teach for America program, where AmeriCorps recruits were paid up to $80,000 a year plus benefits.
While most AmeriCorps members receive far less, the overall package of stipends, fringe benefits, and education awards exceed the wages earned by millions of Americans at the bottom of the pay scale. Indeed, being an AmeriCorps member is arguably easier than working at McDonalds.
Despite the criticisms and controversies, Democrats and liberals are seeking to ignite panic over the demise of AmeriCorps. However, it's worth noting that AmeriCorps had roughly 75,000 paid members before the DOGE purge. According to the Census Bureau, 75 million Americans formally volunteer with organizations each year. Therefore, AmeriCorps represents barely one-tenth of one percent of the total number of volunteers in this country.
On April 29, more than 20 states filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administrations AmeriCorps cutbacks. Despite this, AmeriCorps is expected to continue, albeit essentially restarted from scratch. However, it's hard to see how a program that boasts of its balloon launches, poetry readings, and condom giveaways can be redeemed.
It's high time for Congress and the Trump administration to admit that AmeriCorps will never be more than social work tinged with messianic delusions. With a thousand times as many private volunteers, AmeriCorps members will not be missed. Taxpayers can no longer afford AmeriCorps endless virtue signaling.
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