Federal Judge Halts Jobs Corps Shutdown, At Least Temporarily
Judge grants injunction stopping U.S. Department of Labor's plan to shut down vocational schools.
Milwaukee Jobs Corps Center, 6665 N. 60th St. Photo taken June 3, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.
A federal judge in New York has granted a motion temporarily blocking the federal government from shutting down vocational schools across the country, including one in Milwaukee.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a “pause” of operations at Jobs Corps Centers across the country. The centers provide residential vocational school for young people 16 to 24 years old. Many of the students are coming from extreme poverty, homelessness, foster care system and have struggled in the traditional education system.
The operational pause, however, amounted to an elimination of the programs. President Donald Trump‘s proposed budget for 2026 does not include funding for Jobs Corps, centers were receiving notices telling them to shutdown operations and begin moving out students.
Attorneys for the National Jobs Corps Association (NJCA) filed a motion arguing the shutdown is illegal and “fundamentally irrational.” The attorneys argued the Department of Labor is illegally impounding Congressionally approved funds and violating federal law regarding the proper procedure for federal agencies.
On June 4, Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. of the Southern District of New York issued an order prohibiting the labor department and Sec. Lori Chavez-DeRemer from taking any action contributing to the elimination of the federal Jobs Corps program while a larger case plays out.
The Jobs Corps Center in Milwaukee, 6665 N. 60th St., was providing education and career training for more than 200 students when it received the notice. The Milwaukee center is run by Horizon Youth Services, which also runs three other centers around the country.
The Jobs Corps programs provides technical training and preparation for careers in masonry, HVAC, nurse assisting and welding, among others. Students have access to job placement services or help attaining apprenticeships.
“For generations, Job Corps has provided life-changing education and hands-on training to young people looking for a pathway to a better future,” said Donna Hay, President and CEO of the National Job Corps Association (NJCA). “These students are often overcoming significant personal and economic challenges and Job Corps gives them the ability to gain the skills they need to build meaningful careers.”
Congress created the Jobs Corps program through the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It was one of the landmark bills of President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s “War on Poverty” and “Great Society” program. In the intervening years, it has provided education to millions of young people coming from challenging backgrounds, who struggle with traditional schooling while living in poverty, foster care or experiencing homelessness. In 2025, the program was educating 25,000 students across the country.
Along with creating it, Congress has repeatedly sustained it with funding and legislation governing its functioning: the program was already funded by Congress through 2026.
Like many of the cuts to federal government programs since the Trump administration took office, according to NJCA attorneys, the elimination of Jobs Corps came at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the government agency set up by and, until recently, run by the richest man in the world: Elon Musk.
For months the labor department was moving the program toward elimination, according to NJCA attorneys.. In early April it began by eliminating the mechanisms — like background checks and medical screenings — needed to enroll new students. Then the department started canceling procurements for centers. By the end of April, the department “effectively terminated its provision of internet service to Job Corps campuses.”
Russell T. Vought, an architect of Project 2025 and the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, submitted the presidents budget for 2026. It included provisions intended to “Make America Skilled Again” including a cut to all funding for the Jobs Corps program.
By the end of May, the centers started receiving notices telling them to “begin immediately all work necessary to provide a safe, orderly, and prompt shutdown of center operations” and to make sure students take “all personal belongings” with them when they leave their dormitories.
“Shuttering Job Corps will have disastrous, irreparable consequences, including displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable young people, destroying companies that have long operated Job Corps centers in reliance on the Government’s support for the program, and forcing mass layoffs of workers who support the program,” according to the NJCA motion.
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