Trump Moves to Kill Job Corps, the 61-Year-Old Free Training Programme That Lifted 3 Million Young Americans Out of Poverty

President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, released on 3 April, includes the full elimination of Job Corps — a federally funded programme that has provided free education and vocational training to low-income young Americans since 1964. The blueprint proposes cutting at least $2.4 billion (approximately £1.81 billion) from the Department of Labour, including the elimination of Job Corps.

Since President Lyndon B Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act into law on 20 August 1964, Job Corps has trained more than 3 million income-eligible young people aged 16 to 24, serving 50,000 students annually at more than 120 centres across the United States. The programme offers participants vocational skills, from welding and carpentry to culinary arts and healthcare, as well as housing, medical care, and a basic living stipend while they train.

A 'Failed Experiment,' Says the White House

The Trump administration has described Job Corps as 'financially unsustainable' and a 'failed experiment,' pointing to its $1.56 billion (approximately £1.18 billion) annual cost, which the proposal would reduce to zero. The White House frames the cuts as part of a broader effort to reduce non-defence discretionary spending, with the 2027 budget seeking a 10 per cent reduction — a $73 billion (approximately £55.1 billion) cut primarily targeting housing, social services, healthcare and other domestic programmes the administration has labelled 'woke.'

Critics dispute the characterisation. Michelle Matthews, who helps lead the Los Angeles Job Corps centres, called the Labour Department's findings 'unbelievable,' adding that 'all of the numbers presented were inflated, deflated lies and their intent was clear from the start.' The Labour Department announced in May 2025 it would pause operations at Job Corps centres nationwide, triggering immediate legal challenges. A federal judge in Manhattan temporarily blocked the Trump administration from eliminating Job Corps while the case played out, after contractors sued arguing the Labour Department had violated federal law by shutting down a programme established and funded by Congress.

Bipartisan Pushback

The move has drawn cross-party resistance on Capitol Hill. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing annual Labour Department funding, said the administration's actions were 'in the wrong direction, exacerbating our state's workforce shortage, locking students out of good-paying jobs, and hurting our Made in Wisconsin economy.' She added that 'Congress appropriated funding for Job Corps, and the Trump Administration can't just decide not to spend it.'

Republican voices have also pushed back. Congressman Ryan Zinke said he 'does not support closing' Montana's Job Corps programmes and that he and other congressional supporters are 'trying to work through some solutions to support higher-performing centres and improve outcomes for more kids.'

A Recurring Budget Target

The 2027 proposal is not the first time Trump has moved against Job Corps. His 2026 budget made the same push — but Congress blocked it. The just-passed Fiscal Year 2026 Labour, Health and Human Services, Education funding bill rejected the call to eliminate Job Corps entirely and instead provided $1.76 billion (approximately £1.33 billion) in federal funding, consistent with the previous year, with language included to protect against efforts to shut down specific centres. Senator Chuck Schumer, who led the Senate fight to preserve the programme, said at the time that Job Corps had helped millions of young people finish secondary school, learn technical skills, and enter in-demand fields.

With the 2027 proposal now on the table, advocates warn that the reprieve may be short-lived. The administration's renewed push to zero out Job Corps funding signals a sustained effort to permanently dismantle a programme that has survived every administration since Johnson.

Job Corps has long been one of the United States' only fully residential federal training programmes for low-income youth, operating at a time when skilled labour shortages are widening. Partners including Disney, Mercedes-Benz, Amazon Web Services and Johnson & Johnson have actively recruited Job Corps graduates, underscoring that its value extends beyond the individuals it trains. The proposal's fate now rests with Congress, where it faces an uncertain path given the bipartisan opposition already taking shape.