(The Center Square) – California and Arizona Tuesday joined 22 other states and the District of Columbia to sue the Trump administration to stop cuts in AmeriCorps’ grants and workforce.

The lawsuit objects to the federal government reducing 85% of the workforce for the agency, which promotes national service and volunteer work addressing disaster recovery and other community needs. 

According to americorps.gov, the agency enrolls more than 200,000 people each year in community service organizations. AmeriCorps also provides more than $4.8 billion in education awards.

Besides California and Arizona, states filing the suit are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. 

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February directing every federal agency to reduce its staff. Since then, AmeriCorps has placed at least 85% of its workforce on administrative leave immediately and told employees they would be dismissed effective June 24, according to a news release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

The states’ lawsuit contends the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce AmeriCorps and its grants violate the Administrative Procedures Act and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.

California is co-leading the lawsuit against the Trump administration.

“In California, AmeriCorps volunteers build affordable housing, clean up our environment, and address food insecurity in communities across our state,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “California has repeatedly taken action to hold the Trump Administration and DOGE accountable to the law — and we stand prepared to do it again to protect AmeriCorps and the vital services it provides.”

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office said the cuts in AmeriCorps affect grants such as:

• $700,000 for Northern Arizona University, Arizona Teacher’s Residency, designed to address teacher shortages.
• $308,000 for Area Agency on Aging, Caring Circles, which helps older Arizonans with needs such as transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping and help with technology.
• $495,000 for Vista College Prepartory’s tutoring and teacher support for math and reading for low-income students.

“AmeriCorps represents the best of our nation – providing opportunities for millions of Americans to serve their neighbors and communities and make our country a better place to live,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said. “By unilaterally gutting this Congressionally authorized agency, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have yet again violated the law and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution. Their illegal actions will harm Arizona communities.”

Mayes noted studies show AmeriCorps programs generate more than $34 per every dollar spent in terms of their impact on communities.

“Slashing these programs serves no purpose and is incredibly short-sighted from those claiming to champion efficiency,” she said.

(The Center Square) — After over 50 years, an open desegregation case against Plaquemines Parish School Board filed by the U.S. Department of Justice was dismissed by efforts from Attorney General Liz Murrill and other representatives.

“After half a century of silence, the United States Department of Justice has dismissed the school desegregation case it filed against the Plaquemines Parish School Board back in 1966,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill. “Members of my solicitor general team recently met with representatives from the DOJ to express my and Governor Landry’s interest in starting to close out all of their remaining desegregation cases in Louisiana.”

The first-term GOP attorney general said the decision shows the recognition of the Plaquemines Parish School Board “operating “one system of schools” with no “effects of past discrimination” — and it has done so voluntarily without the need for court intervention.”

A vote was called April 17 by the school board to request assistance from the state Attorney General’s Office. The case dismissal was deemed historic by Board President Niko Tesvich and Superintendent Dr. Shelley Ritz Board. According to the news release, the dismissal was done voluntarily by the DOJ. 

Gov. Jeff Landry thanked the President and many others in his statement.

“Thank you, President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, and their great team at USDOJ for ending this decades-long legal battle,” said Landry. 

According to Landry, federal judges have set and imposed unnecessary requirements, costing schools and children millions of dollars. He is working to close other desegregation cases throughout the state as well. 

The decision is an important step forward to Murrill when it comes to school boards across the state. She intends to work with other schools in similar cases to “put them in the past.”

“Louisiana got its act together decades ago, and it is past time to acknowledge how far we have come. America is back, and this Department of Justice is making sure the Civil Rights Division is correcting wrongs from the past and working for all Americans,” said Leo Terrell, Senior Counsel to the Civil Rights Division for the United States Department of Justice.

Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.

(The Center Square) – Over the first 100 days in his second term of office, President Donald Trump has signed five pieces of legislation into law, fulfilling some of his deregulation and immigration promises while preventing a government shutdown.

“The four words that best describe this administration so far are ‘promises made, promises kept,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. “We’re just getting started, and that’s one of the reasons we’re so excited.”

Trump signed the first bill to hit his desk, the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, nine days after taking office and declaring an invasion at the southwest border.

Immigration officers can now detain for deportation any migrants residing illegally in the U.S. who are arrested for theft, assaulting law enforcement, or causing serious injury or death to another person. States can also sue federal officials who violate or refuse to enforce immigration law. 

Many Democratic lawmakers opposed the bill because it applies mandatory detention statutes on people who are charged with, and not convicted of, committing crimes. 

Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration and border security have resulted in record low illegal border crossings, down from record-highs under the previous administration. 

In March, the Republican-controlled 119th Congress sent two energy-related resolutions to Trump’s desk. 

One repealed a Biden-era fee on methane emissions before it could take effect. Republicans had said the Waste Emissions Charge, authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, was the equivalent of a natural gas tax.

The second resolution rescinded a rule requiring extra archeological reports from operators managing oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf, a measure meant to protect aquatic environments. 

Trump also signed and played a major role in the passage of the six-month Continuing Resolution, preventing a government shutdown by maintaining current funding levels for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in October. 

The president repeatedly cajoled and pressured Republican holdouts to support the bill, despite it being the third time Congress punted the deadline to pass the 12 annual appropriations bills that provide money for federal agencies to spend on programs each year.

Another deregulation bill, codified in April, struck down a rule placing stricter tax reporting requirements on cryptocurrency brokers. 

During his first four years in office, Trump signed more than 780 bills into law, while former president Joe Biden signed more than 630 bills into law.