President Donald Trump poses for photographers as he arrives for a formal dinner at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 24, 2025 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
A federal judge in Manhattan has stopped the Trump administration’s attempt to close the Job Corps training program, which is the nation’s largest residential career training initiative for many low-income youth, while legal proceedings continue on this issue.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter of the Southern District of New York extended his temporary restraining order (TRO) by approving a request for a preliminary injunction in the case. He concluded that the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) unilateral decision to close the program, which was created and authorized by Congress, was in violation of federal law.
The case stems from the Labor Department notifying the 99 private Job Corps centers across the nation on May 29 that they would “cease operations” by June 30.
The National Job Corps Association and numerous contractors filed a lawsuit earlier this month claiming that the administration’s “elimination” of the program was illegal. The suit asserted that closing down Job Corps “contravenes the statutory provisions governing Job Corps and DOL’s own regulations concerning the program,” while also being “fundamentally irrational.”
The court agreed that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, reasoning that the program’s closure appeared to have ignored federal law regarding proper procedures for such actions.
“Once Congress has passed legislation stating that a program like the Job Corps must exist, and set aside funding for that program, the DOL is not free to do as it pleases; it is required to enforce the law as intended by Congress,” Carter, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote in the 24-page order.
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The judge also rejected the administration’s assertion that it was not shuttering the program, but had “simply paused operations by terminating their contracts with those centers.” That technicality, according to the Labor Department, meant the government did not have to seek notice and comment from the public or notify Congress as prescribed by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
But Carter disagreed, saying “the defendants’ actions exceed their statutory authority.”
“Defendants argue that because they have not closed the Private Job Corps Centers, there was no need to follow the congressionally mandated protocols for center closures,” he wrote. “But the way that the DOL is shuttering operations and the context in which the shuttering is taking place make it clear that the DOL is actually attempting to close the centers.”
The judge also listed multiple seemingly ruinous concessions made by the Trump administration in court filings and during hearings that informed his ruling.
“Defendants concede that, as part of the executive branch, they do not have the authority to unilaterally eliminate a congressionally mandated program like Job Corps,” he wrote, referencing a June 17, hearing. “Defendants concede that absent an injunction, thousands of abused children and/or young people will be kicked off Job Corps campuses, rendering them homeless instantly because they have nowhere else to go. Defendants concede that the DOL has articulated no plans for the money that Congress has already set aside for the Job Corps program. For these reasons and those outlined below, the Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is granted.”
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers on Thursday told Reuters that the administration does not believe Carter has the authority to halt the action, indicating an appeal of the ruling was imminent.
“The district court lacked jurisdiction to enter its order, and the Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” he said in a statement.
In a news release, the National Job Corps Association said that the preliminary injunction was a “lifeline for tens of thousands of young people whose futures depend on the training, support and opportunities” that the program provides.
“Today’s preliminary injunction importantly pauses the disruption caused in the lives of Job Corps’ students and staff and their communities while the legal process continues,” the release said. “During this pause, we remain committed to working with the Administration and Congress to implement reforms that will help Job Corps better meet the urgent needs of both our nation’s most at-risk young people and the employers who can give them a pathway to financial stability.”
