Among the many rural communities around the country that were impacted by DOGE cuts to Americorps were several in South Dakota, where the Mahpiya Luta school and Pine Ridge Reservation saw funding cuts, reports Chalkbeat:
By offering job opportunities to people in the local community, AmeriCorps grants allowed Mahpiya Luta students to benefit from one-on-one mentorship from young adults on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Around 53% of children on the Pine Ridge Reservation live below the poverty line, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It’s super important for kids, especially kids in a setting like ours, that they’re seeing adults who look like them, who come from where they come from,” [Mahypiya Luta superintendent Moira] Coomes said. “So that they see that as something they can aspire to.”
In the fall, Mahpiya Luta is hoping to find the money to hire at least kindergarten and first grade aides in the absence of grant funding,
» Read more about: Rural Communities Have Been Hit Especially Hard by DOGE Cuts to AmeriCorps »
Due to staff cutbacks proposed by DOGE staffers at the Social Security Administration, at least three dozen field offices lost more than a quarter of their staff, reports the New York Times. That resulted in long lines at offices overwhelmed by members of the public due to new requirements that they file for benefits in person or online rather than over the phone:
During one of his last weeks in charge, [former Social Security official Leland] Dudek drove around the Midwest by himself visiting offices that had been hit especially hard by cuts.
At a Milwaukee field office, Mr. Dudek stopped a woman driving out of the parking lot, a moment witnessed by The Times.
“Were we able to take care of your needs today?” he asked.
“Not at all,” the woman replied.
Mr. Dudek apologized as she drove away.
» Read more about: Cutbacks at Social Security Field Offices Leads to Frustration, Long Lines »
DOGE cuts have terminated federal contracts and grants worth $863 million in Texas, reports the San Antonio Express-News. Among them were state plans to extend high-speed internet services to underserved communities and contracts to staff an army medical center’s outpatient rehab:
The Texas Comptroller’s office took the biggest blow in the latest round, losing a nearly $56 million deal with the Department of Commerce to help underserved people across the state access high-speed internet. As a result, the state’s Broadband Development Office is pausing funding under the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.
In San Antonio, Stability Staffing and Consulting lost its $1.2 million deal with the Defense Department to provide medical staffing for Brooke Army Medical Center’s outpatient rehabilitation services.
» Read more about: DOGE Cuts Halted Texas Plans to Extend Broadband to Underserved Areas »
Afterschool and summer programs around the country may have to cut back hours or shut down due to massive cuts to volunteer programs like AmeriCorps, reports Kiplinger.
In the wake of a lawsuit filed by two dozen states and the District of Columbia, a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore funding to AmeriCorps grants in those states. But the 26 states that did not participate in the lawsuit will feel the impact:
America’s Service Commissions said that the funding rollback would terminate the jobs of 32,000 volunteers nationwide and force as many as 1,000 important programs to shut down.
One of the organizations impacted by the mass cuts was Flipside AmeriCorps, a Marion County-based community program that provided critical afterschool support and mentorship to middle school students in West Virginia.
“We have other grant funding available to keep the Flipside Afterschool program operational through the end of the school year,” the program shared in a release.
» Read more about: DOGE Cuts Are Hitting Summer Programs for Kids »
The budget cuts to Job Corps, which announced it will close 99 of its 123 centers across the country, will hit Kentucky hard, wrote Jason Bailey in the Courier-Journal:
Job Corps, which began as part of the War on Poverty in 1964, provides free education, job training and a place to live for low-income [people] ages 16 to 24. The closings shutter three rural Kentucky locations that serve over 500 students: the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center in Prestonsburg, the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Academy in Morganfield and the Muhlenberg Job Corps Center in Greenville…
The now-closed Kentucky centers were putting students on paths to becoming welders, computer technicians, certified nursing assistants, pharmacy techs, culinary arts employees, automotive mechanics and more.
And just as importantly, Job Corps reaches those who face the biggest problems entering career-track employment. A recent report notes that Job Corps often draws from youth who have tried multiple times to earn a secondary or postsecondary credential but dropped out under the demands of low-wage jobs and financial,
» Read more about: Job Corps Center Closings Will Hit Kentucky Hard »
DOGE cut more than 50 grants in Georgia’s 10th district – impacting programs that trained students in school counseling, provided outreach to historically underserved farmers and recruited more women into fields like computer science, according to the Center for American Progress.
According to Flagpole.com, the cuts included the following:
» Read more about: New Report Details Cuts to Education and Research Programs in Georgia »
After DOGE canceled almost $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, the free after-school program Aspire Afterschool Learning in northern Virginia had to lay off teachers and said it would be forced to serve as many as 50 fewer students per year, reports The Washington Post:
[Andrew] Gelsinger sat in the classroom with his students, some of them weeping, as they were told they would not be able to come back to Aspire Afterschool Learning to start their homework, grab a snack or play volleyball.
Just a few days later, Gelsinger’s bosses tapped into surplus funds to bring him and most other teachers back through the summer. How much the nonprofit’s budget could stretch after that, though, was uncertain…
The Arlington parents who send their children to the nonprofit — at no cost — are the nurses, day laborers and janitors who make this community function for everyone else.
David Pasquino, a disabled veteran who was an employee and a patient at the Department of Veterans Affairs, says that he recently resigned from the agency, which faces funding cuts suggested by DOGE, noting that morale is “horrible” and staff is overwhelmed.
He told Scripps News:
“The VA that I joined a year ago is not the VA that exists today, and not [in] a good way,” Pasquino said.
He said he noticed changes at the VA — as an employee and as a patient — since President Trump took office earlier this year.
“I talked with nurses. I talked with doctors … and they all say the same thing, that they’re overwhelmed, they’re understaffed,” Pasquino said.
» Read more about: Disabled Vet Leaves VA, Says Nurses and Doctors Are ‘Understaffed’ »
DOGE budget cuts are hurting the Hancock County Food Pantry in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, reports WLOX:
The Hancock County Food Pantry is a source that many people in the area rely on during hard times. Now that summer has begun, it’s seeing more people than usual.
“I think it has something to do with the job market,” claims pantry treasurer Jan Vest. “The economy is sputtering, and that means more people are facing food insecurity.”
Vest explains the pantry sees around 1,300-1,400 clients a month, with over 350 of them being children. The pantry recently took a hit, losing $8,000 of federal money after being a part of DOGE budget cuts a few months ago.
» Read more about: Mississippi Food Bank Sees More Demand, but Less Federal Funding »
DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps, FEMA, the Environmental Protection Agency , the Army Corps of Engineers and the Small Business Administration have impacted wildfire recovery efforts in Los Angeles, reports The Guardian:
On 13 April, Tess McGinley was working in her Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) cubicle in Los Angeles, calling people who had lost their homes in the January wildfires, when her team was told to stop what they were doing and leave the office immediately.
McGinley, a 23-year-old team leader for AmeriCorps, the US agency for national service and volunteerism, was helping Fema by reviewing wildfire survivors’ cases to ensure they received housing assistance. Over the past six weeks, she and her seven teammates had reviewed more than 4,000 cases and made hundreds of calls to survivors. Now, even as the team drove home after their jobs were cut,
» Read more about: Funding Cuts Hurt Wildfire Recovery Efforts in L.A. »
Due to funding cuts by DOGE, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lost a $1 million federal grant to address food insecurity in two counties with poverty rates above national and state averages, reports the Topeka Capital-Journal:
Jill Bronaugh, a KDHE spokesperson, said the agency was “formally notified of the abrupt termination” on May 7.
“This unexpected action taken by the Trump administration, which does not allow for the recovery of previously committed funds, has had an immediate and significant impact on KDHE’s ability to carry out vital public health work directly benefiting Kansans in rural communities,” Bronaugh said in a May 21 email.
Bronaugh told The Capital-Journal the $1 million grant was to address food insecurity in Labette and Montgomery counties, which have “poverty rates above the state average and a higher population of individuals who lack secure access to sufficient amounts of food.”
» Read more about: DOGE Cuts Grant for Fighting Food Insecurity in Rural Kansas »
By cutting $1 billion in funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that enabled schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farmers, DOGE is having an impact in South Florida, reports CBS News.
“We’ve been seeing empty racks since February,” Paco Velez, CEO of Feeding South Florida, told CBS News. “These cuts have really made an impact, not just on our ability to serve, but on the families’ ability to thrive in South Florida and across the country.”
For Feeding South Florida, the cuts amount to 40% of its $37 million annual budget.
“It’s an unfortunate situation, because we see that our families are desperate,” Velez said. “They’re coming in more frequently than they ever have. And we’re trying to maintain as much food as we can. But there is a little desperation.”
» Read more about: Cuts Hit Florida Food Banks: ‘Our Families are Desperate’ »
After DOGE cut $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, nonprofits in Indianapolis are feeling the squeeze, reports WRTV:
“When we lose that funding, we lose the support that provides that safe place for kids,” Maggie A. Lewis, CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, stated.
With the funding cuts, the organization is feeling the effects.
“We’ve lost the funding, so we are making adjustments now. Our staff builds vital relationships with our youth every day,” Lewis added.
The repercussions of the cuts are stark. Staff members say they are now tasked with taking on the roles of multiple people to ensure that children receive the attention and support they need, as families share their concerns.
» Read more about: AmeriCorps Cuts Force Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis to Scramble »
Elon Musk’s SpaceX employees voted this month to make their small community on the southeastern tip of Texas its own city, with a mayor and city commissioners.
But the rest of the tech billionaire’s neighbors near the newly incorporated Starbase in rural Cameron County, where he lives in a home on the outskirts of Brownsville, are not so thrilled with his activities as a businessman and now as head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Residents have long complained about the environmental impact of SpaceX’s rocket launches, which rain debris like sheet metal and pieces of concrete on beaches and have caused wildfires.
Now, Musk’s DOGE is having a major impact in the county and the rest of South Texas, an area with higher rates of poverty and less access to resources than much of the rest of the state — the initiative’s budget cutbacks have resulted in reduced funding for area food banks,
» Read more about: DOGE Cuts ‘Hurting’ Residents in Elon Musk’s Backyard in Rural Texas »
Budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are having an impact in Wyoming’s rural Teton County, where the health department lost funding for a program that helps residents navigate Medicaid and other health care programs, reports The Sheridan Press:
It had been a normal day until Emily Rivera Garcia learned about the meeting.
With no forewarning, she could tell something was amiss.
Rivera Garcia works for the Teton County Health Department and helps run a popular program called “Connect with Community Health Outreach Workers,” better known as “Connect with CHOW.”
She primarily helps Spanish-speaking community members navigate Medicaid and other health care programs, such as St. John’s Health’s financial assistance program…
» Read more about: Cuts Hit Rural Wyoming Program for Navigating Medicaid »
Due to DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps, Kansas will lose over $4.5 million in funding and 375 staff members employed by organizations such as the Kansas State Department of Education in Topeka and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Manhattan and Lawrence, according to the United Way of Kaw Valley.
Jessica Lehnherr, president and CEO of the United Way of Kaw Valley, tells KSNT News that she is wondering how they’ll be able to support numerous services without a new round of funding:
“So many rely on our nonprofit sector to help provide for them in times of need. And not only that, also helping with education and in our educational system. And if we want families to be able to continue to work, we need to help support them while they are working by having affordable childcare.”
» Read more about: Cuts Hit Kansas Nonprofits That Focus on Childcare, Education »
Cuts to AmeriCorps and USDA food aid are having an impact on services for Delaware’s most underserved communities, state leaders tell WHYY.
Cathy Kanefsky, CEO of the Food Bank of Delaware, told the station:
“Due to recent federal funding cuts, we lost 19 truckloads of food expected to arrive between April and July,” Kanefsky said. “We were expecting hard-to-get food — milk, eggs, frozen meat, fruits, vegetables and more.”
The cut represents nearly 30% of the bank’s anticipated deliveries for the year — 900,000 meals that won’t reach seniors, working families and children who rely on them. Added to those challenges, Kanefsky said supply costs are rising.
“Our vendor has indicated that cranberry sauce will increase $7 to $10 a case starting next week,” she noted. “Decreased USDA foods and an increased cost to purchase that food will be detrimental to our work.”
» Read more about: Delaware Nonprofits Say Cuts Are Hurting the State’s Most Vulnerable »
To lay out the budget cuts and program cancellations impacting everything from disaster relief and consumer fraud to school meals in Kentucky, the state’s Center for Economic Policy launched its own tracker this week.
The center’s executive director Jason Bailey tells Spectrum News 1:
“Issues ranging from disaster relief to school meals to education programs, the AmeriCorps program, for example, has been cut 41% of the grant funding for AmeriCorps that provides jobs for young people in about 700 sites in Kentucky. They provide tutoring and education services, community service programs, arts programs, public health programs, that’s been cut nearly in half,” said Bailey.
He said some cuts aren’t needed.
“I think you know it’s one thing to talk about just cutting so-called waste. It’s another thing when cuts actually happen and you see that it’s not things that are wasteful.
» Read more about: Kentucky Nonprofit Launches Tracker to Document DOGE Impact on Residents »
Due to the termination of $11 billion in public health grants, a grant to a program that provides Colorado residents with access to behavioral health and substance abuse support was disrupted, reports Healthcare Dive:
For [Racquel] Garcia, it looked like the early end of one of HardBeauty’s grants providing behavioral health and substance abuse support to women through pregnancy, birth and postpartum in Colorado’s Western Slope, a region with primarily rural and frontier counties.
Instead, it was the beginning of weeks of funding limbo complicated by a federal lawsuit filed by 23 states, including Colorado, as well as Washington, D.C., challenging the DOGE cuts. As it works its way through the courts, providers are notified periodically, sometimes week-to-week, about the status of the lawsuit, which will decide the fate of their funding for the rest of the grant period.
There has been some reprieve. A little over a week after the cuts were announced,
» Read more about: Cuts Threaten Colorado Program That Supports Pregnant and Postpartum Women »
Among those impacted by the Trump administration’s mass layoffs are disabled workers, who worry that they won’t be able to get such jobs in the private sector, reports the Associated Press:
Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS.
Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities…
Goidel says he hopes the Trump administration realizes what it’s losing with the layoffs.
“They’re taking away people’s opportunities, and they’re taking away people’s livelihoods,” he said.