Labor Department to See 35% Funding Cut Under Trump Budget (1)

The US Labor Department would receive $8.6 billion in 2026 under President Donald Trump’s “skinny” budget blueprint, a nearly 35% cut from its current funding level.

The $4.6 billion reduction in spending would largely stem from the administration’s plans to end Job Corps, a nationwide career development and training program for low income young adults, and consolidating state workforce funds, according to a summary from the White House.

“The Budget eliminates Job Corps, which has been a failed experiment to help America’s youth—and, in some cases, has harmed them,” Trump’s budget summary said. The cancellation of that program alone would provide an estimated $1.5 billion in savings, according to the White House.

The spending blueprint also envisions a “Make America Skilled Again” consolidation of DOL grants that would provide states and localities more “flexibility to spend workforce dollars to best support their workers and economies.”

While agency spending must be approved by Congress, the budget reflects the administration’s overall efforts to shrink the size of the government through staffing cuts and federal office closures.

“The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY 2025 spending, which was found to be laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter presenting the budget plan to appropriators.

By comparison, Congress provided the agency with $13.3 billion for fiscal year 2025.