BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – At the end of April, the national Americorps organization terminated five grants that Vermont received to help fight poverty and assist Vermonters affected by the floods who need housing, food, employment assistance, and child care.
The $2.3 million loss to the state is a part of efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce government spending.
Vermont’s Attorney General, Charity Clark, joined a lawsuit to stop the cuts.
This is just one of 17 lawsuits against the federal government that Vermont is a part of, a majority of which had preliminary injunctions filed. Which means, if the motion is granted, the feds have to let the funds flow while the months or potentially years-long lawsuits play out.
“With cases like this where we don’t have time for the lawsuit to resolve itself and harm is being done right now, that’s when we ask the court to grant our motion for preliminary injunction,” said Clark.
Six of the suits have to do with layoffs and funding cuts executed by DOGE.
Four were spurred by the trump administration withholding federal funding over non-compliance with directives on things like immigration and DEI.
All of the cases are at different stages in the justice system.
In the case where Vermont joined a suit decrying DOGE’s access to the treasury, the Trump administration says they have now changed their policy.
The case against the executive order limiting birthright citizenship is now in the Supreme Court.
“I think what President Trump is doing is testing the boundary of his power as President, and it’s up to the courts to lay the boundaries and say, here’s what the constitution says you can do,” said Clark.
Clark says in most of these cases, she believes the president’s administration is violating the Administrative Procedures Act. That’s the lawful process these decisions must go through.
She adds it’s very similar to the president’s last term, where Vermont and the coalitions it joined won 60 of 62 similar suits.
“We have a president who has repeatedly violated the Constitution and federal law. That isn’t my opinion. That is the court’s opinion. We keep winning on these,” said Clark.
The Attorney General says she expects a decision on the preliminary injunction filed against the Americorps funding freeze next week. To track more cases, visit the Office of the Vermont Attorney General’s website.
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