A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump‘s administration to pause across-the-board cuts to AmeriCorps in response to a lawsuit filed by 24 states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The federal community service program that oversees thousands of volunteers was targeted in mid-April by the Department of Government Efficiency, which terminated grants and placed 85% of the agency’s employees on administrative leave, with layoffs set to take effect later this month.

Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who was nominated to the Maryland district bench in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden, issued an order Thursday preventing the Trump administration from “effectuating and enforcing” the cuts in the states represented by the lawsuit. Boardman also ordered that programs already impacted should be restored, grants reinstated, and AmeriCorps members returned to service, “if they are willing and able to return.”

The judge denied the Democratic-led states’ request to reverse the placement of AmeriCorps employees on administrative leave, or prevent the reduction in force for the agency’s staff.

“We just won in court again against the Trump Administration — this time to stop their unlawful decision to cut AmeriCorps programs that help communities respond to natural disasters, support seniors and veterans, and keep our trails clean across Pennsylvania,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a post on X Thursday.

Boardman explained her ruling in an 86-page opinion, stating that the cuts were not done properly.

“Before AmeriCorps could make any significant changes to service delivery, it first had to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking,“ Boardman wrote. ”It did not.”

The opinion cites a few Pennsylvania programs, including one that supports veterans in Butler County, as examples of the impact AmeriCorps cuts could have on communities. The complaint argued that AmeriCorps members and volunteers have built trust that cannot be easily replaced.

“The abrupt exiting of members and erosion of trust built between service programs and the community will have a detrimental impact on these programs absent immediate injunctive relief,” Boardman said.

AmeriCorps did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit, filed against AmeriCorps in late April, accused the Trump administration of efforts to “dismantle” the agency, and contended that the president does not have the constitutional authority to do so because AmeriCorps was established by an act of Congress.

Shapiro, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings are listed as plaintiffs, along with officials from 21 other states.

The Trump administration argued in court filings that its actions did not trigger the requirements for a comment period according to the law and that the cuts wouldn’t cause irreparable harm, the legal bar required for an injunction before a case is fully litigated.

“Plaintiffs offer no concrete basis upon which to conclude that such dire consequences would obtain during the next couple of weeks,” the government said.

» READ MORE: DOGE’s sweeping AmeriCorps cuts leave Philly volunteer programs unsure if they will get promised funding

AmeriCorps was created in 1993 during President Bill Clinton’s administration as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. It has since supported projects throughout the nation.

Penn Serve — Pennsylvania’s designated state service commission for AmeriCorps — received nearly $18 million in federal grants for the year starting July 2024 to administer 28 programs, the lawsuit said.

New Jersey had $6 million in federal AmeriCorps grants terminated during DOGE’s purge, according to the statement from the state’s office of the attorney general. These cuts have affected a food pantry and homeless shelter, as well as addiction recovery and disaster-preparedness programs.

Delaware received nearly $1.5 million in federal grants to support 1,322 AmeriCorps volunteers for the 2024 fiscal year, according to the complaint. It has since lost more than $1 million of that funding.

Staff writer Beatrice Forman contributed to this article.

When someone calls 911, they expect an ambulance to arrive quickly. But across Pennsylvania, that expectation is increasingly at risk as more emergency medical services agencies shut down due to financial strain.

According to Plum EMS Director of Operations Brian Maloney, every time an ambulance responds to a call, it costs the agency about $850 just to get out the door.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve been in crisis,” Maloney said, “but now we are literally falling apart.”

The problem isn’t just the high cost, it’s the lack of reimbursement. In some cases, with commercial insurance companies, they will send payment directly to the patient instead of the EMS provider, and that money doesn’t always make it back to the agency.

“In my community, 38 percent of those checks were kept by the patient,” Maloney said. “In three years, Plum EMS, which is a small organization, lost a quarter of a million dollars.”

Pennsylvania has lost 52 EMS agencies in just the last two years. The risk for more is always there.

State Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Westmoreland County, is leading a bipartisan effort to change that. Her proposal, House Bill 1152, would require commercial insurance companies to directly reimburse EMS agencies for 911 calls they respond to.

“I feel an obligation to the seniors and people in my district,” Cooper said. “When they call and expect an ambulance in 8 to 10 minutes, they should get one, in order to save their life.”

EMS services in Pennsylvania do not receive tax dollars for operations, so timely reimbursement is vital. Maloney told Channel 11 that no agency wants to have to go after a patient to get a bill paid.

Supporters of the bill said it would only increase insurance premiums by around $10 but could make a major difference in keeping EMS agencies open.

“It’s causing EMS companies to go out of business,” Maloney said. “Just getting an ambulance ready to go costs money, and they’re losing it every time they respond. This bill is one step toward solving that problem.”

House Bill 1152 has nearly 50 cosponsors and is currently in committee, awaiting a vote.

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‘Less savings’ without federal tax credits

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed tax-exempt entities, like local governments and schools, to utilize clean energy tax credits for the first time. These credits offer reimbursement payments to schools that cover 30% or more of the costs of a solar project.

The Upper Darby School District expected these federal tax credits to cover over $2 million of the total $9 million cost of its six solar projects.

But the timelines set out in the House bill would likely be difficult, if not impossible for the district to meet, because the district needs to vet and choose contractors, get approval from the school board, acquire supplies through the contractors and wait until schools are closed during the summer to begin construction, officials said. Districts also need approval from utilities to connect the projects to the local grid.

The soonest the Upper Darby School District could start to build its solar projects would be next summer, officials said.

Without the federal tax credits, the solar projects would eat up most of the district’s yearly capital budget at a time when federal funding for operational costs is uncertain, McGarry said. This could mean sacrificing crucial facilities projects, such as replacing windows, renovating old bathrooms and upgrading security systems, he said.

“We can’t afford to do that,” McGarry said.

The Upper Darby School District is not alone. The William Penn School District would not be able to complete a Solar for Schools project planned for Park Lane Elementary School without the federal tax credit, said district Chief of Operations Darnell Deans.

“As our district is under-resourced and we are still advocating for our appropriate level of funding, our district will not be able to proceed with this project without the tax credit,” Deans wrote in an email.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, who sponsored the Solar for Schools legislation, said she’s confident the projects will still save schools money, even if the schools are not able to use the federal tax credits.

“Obviously, if the federal IRA incentives for renewable energy are cut, that would mean less savings for schools,” she wrote in a statement.

When awarding the state grants, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development believed the schools could complete the projects without the federal tax credits, said spokesperson Justin Backover.

Still, Shannon Crooker, Pennsylvania director at the nonprofit renewable energy advocacy organization Generation180, worries these slimmer savings would force many districts to abandon the projects.

“We’re at risk of losing a lot of great investment,” she said.