Representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency initiative have arrived at the Peace Corps' headquarters, the agency confirmed Saturday, signaling possible cuts to a volunteer mission that has long enjoyed bipartisan support, NBC News reported.
“Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests," the Peace Corps' press office said, without specifying what work DOGE is undertaking or how the agency is accommodating its requests.
The National Peace Corps Association said a DOGE representative arrived Friday and additional staff were expected through the weekend. The nonprofit organization, which supports the agency's mission, told members it was on watch for news of any funding cuts.
"These visits at other federal agencies have led to major funding cuts," the association said in a post to Facebook. "We don’t yet know the full impact, but we’re watching closely."
The White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to NBC News' requests for comment.
The Peace Corps has struggled to meet its staffing goals in recent years, with its "fill rate," a measurement that reflects its ability to accommodate requests for volunteers, dropping from 94% in fiscal year 2019 to 63% in fiscal year 2023, according to agency data.
Funding for the Peace Corps amounts to less than a tenth of a percent of the total federal budget and costs the average taxpayer under a few dollars a year.
The Peace Corps' budget in the 2024 fiscal year was $430.5 million, according to a recent financial report. The Biden administration requested the agency receive $479 million this fiscal year, but Congress has yet to pass a funding authorization following President Donald Trump's election in the fall.
Legislation to expand resources for the agency, including by allowing volunteers to receive larger payments after their service, has received bipartisan support in previous years, but has failed to garner enough support to become law.
The Peace Corps is not a foreign aid agency, but it engages in international development and assistance, with volunteers working in sectors that include education, health, youth development, community economic development, environment and agriculture. The Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees oversee the agency’s activities and programs.
After the stock market nosedived Thursday towards its biggest one-day loss since 2020, President Donald Trump defended his expansive tariff policies by predicting a massive economic ‘boom.’
The Peace Corps only restored its geographic footprint to pre-pandemic levels in the last fiscal year, with more than 3,300 volunteers serving in 61 countries. The agency planned to expand its work into the Indo-Pacific region this year, but it is unclear if those plans will continue.
The Peace Corps was established through executive order by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961 and formally authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961.
Over 240,000 Americans have served in the agency since it was founded, and trainees were deployed recently to Armenia, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
DOGE's presence at the Peace Corps comes months after the Elon Musk-led group began dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Peace Corps and USAID have collaborated through various initiatives, most notably the Small Project Assistance Program, which provides grants to Peace Corps volunteers on assignment in countries around the world for development projects.
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