It feels like each new week of 2025 brings more scary news for federal workers, of whom we have many in Vicksburg, thanks to government jobs being slashed by President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This week, it would appear AmeriCorps is next up on the proverbial chopping block, and our community’s reaction has been far from lax. 

One of the largest federal civil service organizations, AmeriCorps utilizes mostly young volunteers in its National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program to assist in everything from disaster relief to community events. The AmeriCorps NCCC: Southern Region, located on Confederate Avenue in Vicksburg, is home to 47 teams made up of 351 volunteers, all of whom were abruptly notified this week that their services were no longer needed. They were then demobilized and sent back to Vicksburg, and have now been sent to their “homes of record” as a letter from the Trump administration put it.

Thursday night, Vicksburg showed its appreciation for the volunteers – predominantly young men and women – with an appreciation line formed to give thanks as the NCCC members walked from their final group meeting to a dinner, which was also organized by locals. 

This week’s development is just the next in an already long list of disruptions for federal employees in Vicksburg since Mr. Trump took office in January. In February, DOGE set its sights on both the Vicksburg National Military Park and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (ERDC) by offering what amounted to early retirement for those eligible and eliminating positions for many employees who had worked for under a year in their current roles. Thanks to decisions in federal court, many of those firings were reversed in the days and weeks that followed, which only underscores the fear that this administration is acting without any real strategy when working to cut government spending.

Regardless of the why, the reality of these cuts – and the uncertainty for those still employed – is stark for federal workers here in town. In much the same way the administration’s on-again, off-again tariffs are causing chaos on Wall Street as the markets struggle with unpredictability, locals who work for government institutions are feeling the strain of not knowing how their jobs will be affected by schizophrenic decisions coming from the White House. If we tack on the fact that many economists give us about a 50/50 chance of a recession, what we get is a powder keg of instability.

It’s still anyone’s guess whether the Trump administration is on the right track with all of this. Maybe there is a plan we just aren’t able to see yet; maybe, as the president is wont to say, things may just hurt a bit before they get much better. If that’s the case, it’s incredibly hard to see right now, and that may be true for no one more than federal employees. Thursday’s show of support may not have changed anything for the latest round of folks affected by DOGE, but it went a long way in showing Vicksburg and Warren County will be here to support its own until either the chaos has passed, or the Trump administration’s promises of a better tomorrow come to fruition.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.