Senators Press Labor Secretary on Job Corps Enrollment Pause and Proposed Elimination
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Summary
Senators including Collins and Baldwin pressed Secretary Chavez de Reamer over the administration's decision to pause enrollment at two Maine Job Corps centers and a budget proposal that would eliminate Job Corps.
Senator Collins told the subcommittee that enrollment at Maine's two Job Corps centers, Loring and Penobscot, was abruptly halted and said those centers together serve nearly 500 students in Maine and employ 29 staff at Loring. "Job Corps literally saved her life," Collins said, describing a former student whose life changed after attending Job Corps in 2008.
Collins and other senators criticized the administration's fiscal year 2026 budget summary, which proposes eliminating Job Corps. "This will deprive thousands, tens of thousands of Job Corps students across the country of the opportunity to gain valuable skills and credentials," Collins said.
Secretary Chavez de Reamer said she and the department "agree that this population is somebody we all care about" and described a newly published Department of Labor transparency report that, she said, highlights program flaws and state-by-state costs. The secretary acknowledged a pause in new enrollments during the department's review and said no final decision had been made. "No final decision has been made, but we are reviewing every Job Corps facility," she told the committee.
Senator Baldwin and others challenged the transparency report's methodology and use of data from the COVID-era enrollment nadir. Baldwin said cuts proposed in the budget would mean fewer apprenticeship supports and could reduce services that support youth in vulnerable circumstances.
The secretary cited the program's costs and outcomes in arguing for a review. On the record she said Job Corps is a roughly $1,700,000,000 program with a graduation rate she characterized as about 38 percent and cited per‑participant cost estimates during questioning; she also pledged to continue conversations with senators to address sustainability and transitions for the program's students.
Committee members asked for additional information for the record; the hearing record will remain open until members can review the department's full budget submission.