The Corporation for National and Community Service, better known as AmeriCorps, is a U.S. federal agency dedicated to engaging other federal agencies, nonprofits, religious organizations, and schools in recruiting low-paid or volunteer workers. For 2026, AmeriCorps was projected to have a $1.25 billion budget supplied by the U.S. Congress. ¹

Since its formation in 1993, AmeriCorps has been criticized by primarily right-leaning sources for financial mismanagement, competing with private volunteer efforts, and left-of-center bias. In 2025, after AmeriCorps failed eight straight financial audits, the second Trump administration issued an executive order withholding $184 million in AmeriCorps funding, forcing the agency to suspend 90 percent of its workers and withhold $400 million in grants. Later in the year, the administration released the funding under threats of federal lawsuits. ^{1 2}

History

Prior to AmeriCorps, the United States had a 60-year history of federally funded volunteer work. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration launched the Civilian Conservation Corps as the first federally funded volunteer program in the United States. In 1961, President John Kennedy helped launch the U.S. Peace Corps as a federally funded foreign volunteer service. In 1964, as part of the “Great Society” initiative, President Lyndon Johnson passed acts instituting the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the National Teacher Corps, the Job Corps, and University Year of Action. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush passed the National and Community Service Act, which instituted the Commission on National and Community Service, a federally backed volunteer service which authorized grants to corporations, nonprofits, and schools to fund volunteer work. ³

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act to form the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal program with an initial annual budget of $300 million that absorbed the Commission. The bill also absorbed VISTA into the newly created AmeriCorps and established AmeriCorps branches in each state. The first class of AmeriCorps operated in 1,000 communities. ³

In 1995, a study commissioned by the IBM Foundation, the Charles A. Dana Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation claimed that every $1 spent by AmeriCorps resulted in $1.60 to $2.60 in benefits to targeted communities. ³

Also in 1995, U.S. House Republicans passed a bill to completely defund AmeriCorps, though the bill was not passed in the U.S. Senate. ⁴

In 1997, AmeriCorps launched the Education Awards Program, which provided funding to nonprofits, faith-based organizations, colleges and universities, and welfare-to-work programs. ³

In 2004, AmeriCorps’s budget significantly expanded, permitting a class of 75,000 members. ³

In 2009, the Obama administration signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to reauthorize and expand AmeriCorps. ³

In 2010, AmeriCorps launched the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) and Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) to support volunteer nonprofits. ³

In 2012, AmeriCorps and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) launched FEMA Corps to provide volunteer services during disasters. ³

In 2021, the Corporation for National and Community Service officially rebranded as AmeriCorps. ³

In 2025, AmeriCorps enrolled 200,000 members. ¹

Programs

AmeriCorps operates by disbursing grants through numerous programs. AmeriCorps State and National is the largest program and provides grants for a wide range of uses to nonprofits, faith and secular community-based organizations, public agencies, Native American tribes, and institutions of higher education. ⁵

AmeriCorps VISTA provides funding to volunteers working in anti-poverty efforts. AmeriCorps VISTA members work for one year on a $25,000 salary, with a finishing bonus of a $7,395 education credit or $1,800 cash bonus. ⁶

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) has been described as a modern update of the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The program funds volunteers working in infrastructure improvement, rural development, disaster relief, and the U.S. Forest Service. Volunteers work for 10 to 11 months, receive a stipend, and are given a $7,395 education credit upon competition. ⁷

AmeriCorps Seniors is a program that funds volunteers who are 55 and older working in mentorship, tutoring, disaster relief, and other fields. Volunteers are given a tax-free stipend. ⁸

 

Funding and Financial Management

AmeriCorps is funded by appropriations from the U.S. Congress. In January 2026, AmeriCorps requested a $1.25 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. ¹

In fiscal year 2025, AmeriCorps was allotted a nearly identical budget. However, in February 2025, the second Trump administration issued an executive order to withhold $184 million in funding as part of an effort to cut federal spending and bureaucracy run by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with the goal of cutting 90 percent of AmeriCorps’ staff. In response, AmeriCorps temporarily suspended 90 percent of its staff and $400 million in grants. The executive order was challenged in federal court by 24 states, and in September, the funds were released. ^{1 2}

In November 2024, AmeriCorps failed its eighth consecutive financial audit. This audit found 11 instances of “material weakness” and two instances of “significant deficiencies,” including “Undelivered Orders—Grants and Grant Activity” and “Internal Controls Environment.” ⁹

Criticism

In 1995, three years after the formation of AmeriCorps, the right-of-center Heritage Foundation condemned the agency, calling it a “$575 Million boondoggle.” The report criticized AmeriCorps for creating what it saw as a large, expensive government bureaucracy to administer volunteer efforts that were already being accomplished by private actors. AmeriCorps was also criticized for relying primarily on government funding despite President Bill Clinton claiming that it would primarily be privately funded, failing to prioritize education initiatives (despite relevant descriptions in its authorization bill), and funding partisan political activity (one AmeriCorps-funded group in Colorado campaigned for a city councilman). ¹⁰

Similarly, in 1996, the libertarian Cato Institute criticized AmeriCorps, characterizing it as a scheme for the federal government to take over a share of the private charitable sphere. Cato pointed out that 2,800 of the first 20,000 AmeriCorps participants were placed through federal agencies (such as the U.S. Department of the Interior), arguing that this meant AmeriCorps was merely an expansion of the preexisting federal bureaucracy. ¹¹

In 2023, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce published a blog post entitled, “AmeriCorps’ Legacy: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.” The post referred to a recent report by the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General that found the agency failed to “demonstrate adequate knowledge and understanding of Federal accounting standards and financial reporting requirements, and effective financial management practices.” Among common issues were “falsified or otherwise non-compliant timesheets” and a lack of oversight for grant recipients. ¹²

Since its establishment, AmeriCorps has been accused of funding nonprofit groups dedicated to left-leaning causes. In 2025, the right-leaning Center for Renewing America described AmeriCorps as “a woke and weaponized entity” that uses “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles” in its selection process. Many grant recipients have been teachers and enforcers of explicitly left-wing principles; for instance, Public Allies espouses anti-racism, the Dallas Independent School District runs “privilege line exercise[s],” and other groups promote LGBT curricula or DEI practices. In 2023, the Biden administration launched the AmeriCorps American Climate Corps (ACC) initiative, which espouses weather-dependent energy, environmentalism, and “[plays] a central role in spreading climate radicalism.” ¹³

However, some right-leaning sources have praised AmeriCorps. In 1996, the Hoover Institution celebrated AmeriCorps as a semi-private alternative to the welfare state and criticized right-leaning think tanks and politicians for opposing AmeriCorps on partisan grounds. ¹⁴

In 2018, CBS News Radio released an investigation finding multiple allegations of sexual harassment, abusive behavior, and mismanagement in AmeriCorps since 2013. For instance, in May 2018, AmeriCorps was alerted to accusations of sexual harassment leveled against the founder of Impact America, an AmeriCorps grant recipient, and five months later, when the report was published, AmeriCorps was still reviewing the case. At another grant recipient in Kentucky, AmeriCorps failed to notice that an AmeriCorps member had a criminal history of child sexual abuse. ¹⁵

Leadership

As of February 2026, AmeriCorps had not had a CEO since January 2025. From December 2021 to January 2025, Michael Smith served as the agency’s CEO until he stepped down at the conclusion of the Biden administration. From 2017 to 2021, Smith worked at the Obama Foundation in numerous roles, ending as executive director. From 2014 to 2017, he served as a special assistant in the Obama White House. Earlier, Smith worked as the director of the Social Innovation Fund at AmeriCorps, and for the Case Foundation, the Beaumont Foundation of America, PowerUp, the National Crime Prevention Council, and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA). ¹⁶

1. “Bipartisan House-Senate Appropriations Bill Provides Near-Level Funding for AmeriCorps.” Voices for National Service. January 20, 2026. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://voicesforservice.org/news/press-release/bipartisan-house-senate-appropriations-bill-provides-near-level-funding-for-americorps/.
2. Apel, Elyse. “The Center Square: Trump Administration Releases AmeriCorps Funding.” Voices for National Service. September 2, 2025. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://voicesforservice.org/news/national-service-in-the-news/the-center-square-trump-administration-releases-americorps-funding/#:~:text=Sep%202%2C%202025-,The%20Center%20Square:%20Trump%20Administration%20Releases%20AmeriCorps%20Funding,Square%20on%20September%202%2C%202025.&text=The%20White%20House%20Office%20of,like%20it’s%20above%20the%20law.%E2%80%9D.
3. “History of National Service.” America’s Service Commission. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.statecommissions.org/history.
4. Putnam, Robert D. “AmeriCorpse?.” New York Times. March 24, 1995. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/24/opinion/americorpse.html.
5. “Introduction to AmeriCorps State and National.” AmeriCorps. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/Intro%20to%20AmeriCorps%20State%20and%20National%20Final_tagged.pdf.
6. “AmeriCorps VISTA Program.” AmeriCorps. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.austintexas.gov/page/americorps-vista-program.
7. “AmeriCorps NCCC Handbook.” AmeriCorps. January 2025. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/2024-12/AmeriCorps-NCCC-Member-Handbook.pdf.
8. “AmeriCorps Seniors.” USA.gov. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.usa.gov/agencies/americorps-seniors.
9. Bowling, Emmet. “AmeriCorps Fails Eighth Audit, Highlighting Waste.” National Taxpayers Union Foundation. January 17, 2025. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/americorps-fails-eighth-audit-highlighting-waste.
10. Moffit, Robert; Winston, David; Liu, John. “AmeriCorps: A $575 Million Boondoggle.” Heritage Foundation. September 14, 1995. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/americorps-575-million-boondoggle.
11. Bandow, Doug. “AmeriCorps Not Necessary, Even Harmful.” Cato Institute. October 3, 1996. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.cato.org/commentary/americorps-not-necessary-even-harmful.
12. “E & W Blog.” AmeriCorps. November 29, 2023. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409787.
13. “Primer: AmeriCorps is Another Woke and Weaponized Scheme.” Center for Renewing America. March 31, 2025. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://americarenewing.com/issues/primer-americorps-is-another-woke-and-weaponized-scheme/.
14. Wofford, Harrisl; Waldman, Steven; Bandow, Doug. “AmeriCorps the Beautiful?.” Hoover Institution. September 1, 1996. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.hoover.org/research/americorps-beautiful.
15. Dorsey, Steve. “AmeriCorps programs accused of sexual misconduct and breakdowns in oversight.” CBS News. October 22, 2018. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americorps-programs-sexual-misconduct-oversight-breakdown/.
16. “Michael D. Smith.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldsmithii/.