The U.S. labor secretary on Thursday again pitched block grants for workforce development programs and expanding apprenticeships, this time to Senate appropriators, some of whom questioned how it could be done when the department seeks to cut funding for training programs that support apprenticeships.
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the U.S. Labor Department’s budget for fiscal year 2026 was nearly a mirror image of last week’s hearing before House appropriators, with Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer giving a general overview of department priorities and Democrats pressing for more details on the yet-to-be-released full budget proposal.
Chavez-DeRemer focused on the Trump administration’s key parts of its expected budget, including bundling workforce development funding into block grants and growing registered apprenticeships. There are currently 680,000 to 700,000 new registered apprenticeships each year, with the president setting a goal of 1 million, the secretary said, noting the International Association of Fire Fighters last month announced a new fire and EMS apprenticeship program.
One strategy to reach the 1 million mark is to expand registered apprenticeships into fields that don’t traditionally have apprenticeships, Chavez-DeRemer said. Appropriators on both sides of the aisle expressed support for that, especially expanding in fields such as teaching and child care.
But Democrats on the panel were skeptical of her pitching to boost apprenticeships while at the same time proposing to slash funding for workforce development programs that support apprenticeships.
“It just doesn’t add up,” said Ranking Member Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), who added the new fiscal year begins in five months and yet the department has produced “barely a page of information” on its budget plan for block grants. She also criticized the administration for cutting department positions that would support those and other efforts.
Job Corps concerns
Members from both sides of the aisle criticized the secretary for freezing new enrollments at several Job Corps centers, in addition to calling to eliminate funding for the $1.7 billion program, which serves at-risk youths ages 16 to 24. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the full Appropriations Committee, especially took exception, using a photo prop of one Job Corps participant who escaped dangerous living conditions to eventually earn a nurse practitioner degree.
“It was Job Corps that made this possible,” she said.
Chavez-DeRember said there was no question that at-risk youth need assistance, but Job Corps isn’t performing well, with reports of violence, low graduation rates and low earnings after completion. She said she wants to work with Congress to find programs that are better and more successful at training youth for careers, especially through pre-apprenticeships.
“I promise you, we won’t forget this population,” she said.
