The Trump Administration has just drawn a bold line in the sand against wasteful government spending and entrenched bureaucratic corruption. On Thursday, the Department of Labor signaled a decisive move to “begin a phased pause” of the scandal-plagued Job Corps program—a bloated, nearly $2 billion federal boondoggle that has limped along since 1964, despite decades of abysmal results and disturbing reports of violence and fraud.
Make no mistake: President Trump’s commitment to draining the swamp means confronting failed federal programs head-on. Job Corps is a prime example of everything wrong with big-government solutions. Intended to give disadvantaged young adults a path to success through vocational training and education, the program has instead become an expensive, scandal-ridden embarrassment that costs taxpayers up to $764,000 per graduate—far more expensive than a Harvard education—only to produce graduates who earn around $17,000 annually.
The numbers are staggering. According to data reported by The Daily Wire, only about one-third of Job Corps participants actually graduate. Another third disappear from the program entirely, while the remaining third are expelled for serious misconduct. This isn’t just a waste of taxpayer dollars; it’s a betrayal of the vulnerable young adults the program is meant to help.
Even worse, Job Corps campuses have become hotbeds of criminality and violence. Over the past three years alone, government records reveal more than 500 reported sexual assaults, 4,600 violent incidents, and 8,000 drug-related offenses. And these are just the incidents severe enough to officially document. One horrific example: a teen girl identifying as transgender was placed in a dorm room with a 23-year-old man who sexually assaulted her. Such grotesque negligence is not the exception—it’s the rule at Job Corps.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was unequivocal in her response, stating, “a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve.” She’s right. Taxpayers and vulnerable young Americans alike deserve far better than expensive failure and dangerous living environments disguised as “job training.”
For decades, contractors running Job Corps facilities have gamed the system, pocketing bonuses by inflating recruitment numbers and falsifying job-placement statistics. A CBS investigation found that a shocking 85% of reported “job placements” were fabricated. Students wouldn’t even show up to class but were certified in trades anyway, creating potential safety hazards for employers and consumers alike.
Adding insult to injury, despite the billions spent, Job Corps graduates overwhelmingly end up in low-paying jobs that require no specialized training. Meanwhile, GED and vocational training programs that cost taxpayers far less are available throughout the country, often free of charge, through public schools and private institutions.
Democrats, predictably, haven’t learned a single lesson from this debacle. Rather than addressing the systemic corruption and violence, they’ve introduced legislation aimed at making it even tougher to expel problematic participants. This is precisely the kind of softheaded thinking that allowed Job Corps campuses to devolve into breeding grounds for gang culture and criminal behavior.
President Trump’s “America First” agenda demands accountability, fiscal responsibility, and genuine opportunities for America’s youth. Pausing the Job Corps program sends a powerful message: the era of blindly throwing taxpayer dollars at failed big-government experiments is over.
The administration has pledged to help current participants transition safely back home and connect them with superior local resources. This is exactly the thoughtful, compassionate leadership we need. It’s time to invest wisely in vocational education, empowering communities and families rather than enriching corrupt contractors.
Under President Trump, Americans can be confident that their hard-earned money will no longer be wasted on failed social experiments. Job Corps may have started with noble intentions, but it has devolved into a dangerous, expensive disgrace. It’s high time we put our nation’s youth first—not the entrenched special interests profiting from their failure.
