Peace Corps staffers are bracing for deep cuts at the agency, ones they fear will do untold damage to one of the last remaining programs promoting development and fostering goodwill abroad.

Employees at the agency have been told to expect “significant restructuring efforts” as Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers begin to assess the agency. They have been offered a second chance at a government buyout as the nearly 800-person headquarters staff faces cuts ranging from 50 percent to 80 percent across various departments.

And outside of Washington, the Peace Corps may cut 25 percent of the fewer than 200 staff members working in the 60 countries across the globe where it operates — potentially forcing some posts to shutter altogether.

Boosters of the 65-year-old agency say it could falter under such deep cuts, undercutting its main mission: supporting the work and well-being of its more than 3,000 volunteers abroad. Some suggested that’s the goal.

“They're very, very significant staff cuts and could be so much that it cripples the organization and makes it impossible for it to operate. Which would then put them in a position to come back and say, ‘See, we told you it didn't work, so we're just going to do away with everything,’” said Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the lone returned Peace Corps volunteer in Congress.

Billed “the toughest job you’ll ever love,” the Peace Corps stations volunteers in remote and impoverished sites, paying them a small stipend to live at an equivalent level to locals as they teach in schools, work to improve health, stem disease, promote local business, and enhance farming practices.

“The Peace Corps volunteer is the person that's on the final mile of the road,” said Jonathan Pearson, advocacy director for the National Peace Corps Association.

“Peace Corps is simply put, just America at its finest.”

The cuts are part of a broader administrative effort to slash federal spending across programs, both domestic and international. And they mesh with President Trump's campaign promise to shift American resources away from foreign initiatives to focus instead on problems at home.

Supporters of Trump's "America First" approach say it's simply a matter of prioritizing the direction of limited tax........

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