The Department of Labor (DOL) announced this week it will pause operations at Job Corps centers nationwide, a move that has already gotten pushback from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill.
The department said Thursday it will begin a “phased pause” initiating “an orderly transition for students, staff, and local communities.” The pause will occur by June 30, the office said.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the program has been found to no longer achieve “the intended outcomes that students deserve,” citing what she described as “a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis.”
“We remain committed to ensuring all participants are supported through this transition and connected with the resources they need to succeed as we evaluate the program’s possibilities.”
Job Corps, established as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is a free residential education and job training program for low-income people between 16 and 24 years of age.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) defended the program in a statement expressing strong opposition to the DOL’s move to pause operations.
“Serving nearly 500 students in Maine, the Loring Job Corps Center and the Penobscot Job Corps Center have become important pillars of support for some of our most disadvantaged young adults,” Collins said in a statement.
“That’s why at an Appropriations hearing just last week, I urged Secretary Chavez-DeRemer to resume enrollment at Maine’s two Job Corps centers and to reverse the Department’s proposed elimination of the Job Corps program,” she continued, adding that, while atop the funding committee, she will “continue to work to support this valuable program.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees annual DOL funding, also called the step by the Trump administration one "in the wrong direction, exacerbating our state’s workforce shortage, locking students out of good-paying jobs, and hurting our Made in Wisconsin economy and businesses who rely on skilled workers to compete and grow.”
“Congress appropriated funding for Job Corps, and the Trump Administration can’t just decide to not spend it because they want to make room for tax cuts for billionaires,” she said in a statement on Friday.
The department noted its decision to suspend operations aligns with President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal and pointed to what it called “significant financial challenges” faced by the program.
It’s the latest instance of the administration drawing criticism from top appropriators in Congress as it continues a sweeping operation aimed at cutting costs and shrinking the size of government.
