U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, along with colleagues from the Senate Appropriations Committee, has requested more information regarding a proposal from the Trump administration to terminate existing workforce training programs, such as Job Corps, in favor of a new initiative called the Make America Skilled Again (MASA) block grant program.
Hyde-Smith is a member of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The subcommittee received testimony from Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer concerning the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Department of Labor.
The senator echoed concerns raised by Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins about potential impacts on trainees currently enrolled at Job Corps centers. The proposed “skinny” budget reportedly lacks specifics on how MASA would effectively replace existing federal job training programs like Job Corps.
Hyde-Smith stated her concerns about possible closures of Job Corps centers in Mississippi: “As with Senator Collins, I’m concerned about the Job Corps center locations in Mississippi closing,” she said. “Hopefully we will have something to replace those job training programs because it is a great concern. They’re all over the state in Gulfport, Batesville, and Crystal Springs, which is close to where I live. They’re valuable to Mississippi.”
She has been supportive of Job Corps programs in her state, highlighting partnerships like the one between Gulfport’s program and Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding that trains welders for employment at Pascagoula shipyard.
Chavez-DeRemer testified that an evaluation of all Job Corps facilities is underway and emphasized that the current program might not be sustainable long-term due to its cost-effectiveness issues: “It’s a 1.7-billion-dollar program with a 38 percent graduation rate when, oftentimes, the cost of almost $50,000 per student,” she explained.
In her written testimony, Chavez-DeRemer suggested that states and localities should have more control over workforce spending through MASA grants: “By consolidating siloed federal job training programs into a single Make America Skilled Again Grant,” she wrote, “states and localities will be able to spend more time and money delivering high-quality training for their workers and less time complying with burdensome federal program requirements.”
Earlier this week, testimony was also received from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy as part of preparations for drafting the FY2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill.
