In The Press
April 17, 2025
By: Mariana Alfaro
The Washington Post: Sen. John Fetterman criticizes Trump’s gutting of AmeriCorps
Washington, D.C. – Sen. John Fetterman on Thursday criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to slash AmeriCorps, an organization that deploys thousands of young people to work on community service projects across the United States — and one that the Pennsylvania Democrat was once part of.
After graduating from college in 1995, Fetterman joined AmeriCorps as a member of its second class. Through the program, Fetterman worked in Pittsburgh helping young parents earn their GEDs and installing the first computer lab in a community that he said would have otherwise struggled to afford a full-time staff. A stipend Fetterman received through AmeriCorps helped him pay for graduate school at Harvard University.
A photo of the computer lab Sen. John Fetterman taught in during his time in AmeriCorps.
After getting his graduate degree, Fetterman moved to Braddock, a town neighboring Pittsburgh, and started a program helping youths finish their GEDs. Through AmeriCorps, he was also able to fund a program helping young people find jobs in the community, which has been ongoing since 2006. By then, Fetterman had been elected Braddock’s mayor.
In a call with The Washington Post, Fetterman said Trump’s decision to gut AmeriCorps — staff there began receiving notices Wednesday placing them on paid administrative leave “effective immediately” — will put an end to civic engagement programs like that.
“This is just … absolutely stupid and punitive,” Fetterman said. “It’s not DEI, it’s not woke, it’s just — it’s essentially the domestic Peace Corps, and it’s national service.”
Fetterman said AmeriCorps allowed young people interested in civil service to work in communities across the country that needed attention and staffing but that could not fully afford it. The program, he said, made communities safer and provided income for young people starting out. Cutting it, he said, will not save the government much money.
“It’s part of the very best of us,” Fetterman said. “If you destroy national service, what kind of a statement [does] that make?”
