The national service corps is only one of hundreds of programs the Republicans have identified for budget savings. Republican opponents of the program say they see it as another instance of government on an expansion track. While some concede it has appealing aspects, they cite a higher goal of cutting government.

Earlier this month, the House cut 72 percent of the budget of AmeriCorps and seemed prepared to send most of its 20,000 public-service workers home. In a tangled series of parliamentary maneuvers, House Republicans had tied the program's future to projected cuts in money for veterans.

That put Democrats in the uncomfortable position of having to vote against veterans if they wanted to vote for the national service program. The veterans won, and $416 million was cut from the $579 million allotted to AmeriCorps for 1995.

That, said Eli J. Segal, the chairman of the corps, left just about enough cash to "pack everything up and send it to a warehouse."

The Senate today called for a more conservative trim of $210 million, which would leave the corps frozen in its first-year budget but would end plans for expansion.