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Federal Judge Blocks Labor Department Plan to Shut Down Job Corps

By ruling that the Labor Department lacked authority to close Job Corps without congressional approval, the injunction ensures the training program continues during litigation.

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer looks as Job Corps members stand behind her during a House Education and Workforce hearing, Thursday, June 5, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO summit of heads of state and government in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025.   BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Pool via REUTERS
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Overview

  • On June 25, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter granted a preliminary injunction that extends his June 4 emergency order and bars the Labor Department from ending or pausing Job Corps operations nationwide until litigation concludes.
  • Job Corps was created in 1964 and now serves about 25,000 disadvantaged young people at 120 contractor-run centers, providing vocational training, housing, meals and health care under a $1.7 billion budget.
  • In May, the Labor Department announced plans to wind down all contractor-operated centers by June 30, citing low graduation rates, growing budget deficits and instances of violence and drug use.
  • The National Job Corps Association sued, arguing that the department lacks authority to dismantle a congressionally authorized program and warning that closures would displace tens of thousands of vulnerable students and trigger mass layoffs.
  • Attorneys general from 20 states filed an amicus brief supporting the association’s motion, highlighting bipartisan legal opposition to ending the six-decade-old initiative.