Rep. Summer Lee Condemns Trump’s Unjust Cuts to AmeriCorps Programs
**For Immediate Release**
Rep. Summer Lee Condemns Trump’s Unjust Cuts to AmeriCorps Programs
PITTSBURGH, PA – May 2, 2025 – Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s abrupt and unlawful decision to revoke over $6 million in AmeriCorps funding owed to Pennsylvania — funding that had already been approved for critical community services across the state:
“These cuts to AmeriCorps are an attack on our neighbors, our elders, our students, and the folks doing the day-in and day-out work to make our communities whole.
“In Western Pennsylvania, AmeriCorps isn’t some far-off program — it’s the tutor helping a young student find the confidence to raise her hand in class. It’s the mentor supporting over 1,000 elementary students in Pittsburgh so they stay engaged in school and perform better on tests. It’s the advocate ensuring veterans get the care they’ve earned. It’s the volunteer rebuilding homes after a disaster and clearing trails in the park. It’s hundreds of people — many of them young, working-class, or serving for the first time, showing up every day with love, grit, and a commitment to their communities.
“Cutting this program with no warning is not just cruel, it’s deeply irresponsible. This is a lifeline for many in our district and a path to public service for so many who want to give back to their neighborhoods.
“This isn’t about politics. It’s about people. I’ll be fighting with every tool available to restore this funding and protect every community this cruel decision threatens to leave behind.”
AmeriCorps members provide essential services throughout PA-12 — from tutoring students and supporting seniors and veterans, to restoring green spaces, maintaining parks and trails, and improving water quality across our region. These sudden cuts threaten hundreds of jobs and vital community services in a region already dealing with the impacts of disinvestment and inequality.
Rep. Lee is actively working with colleagues in Congress to reverse this harmful decision and ensure the federal government lives up to its commitments to the people of Western Pennsylvania.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.