Labor Sec. Lori Chavez-DeRemer testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
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00:00:00Good morning, Madam Secretary, and thank you for being here today to testify for the President's
00:00:04fiscal budget 2026 budget request for the Department of Labor. Thank you for being here.
00:00:10I'm pleased, as always, to be joined by Senator Baldwin, the ranking member of the subcommittee.
00:00:14We've worked together for several years now, and I'm happy to have Susan Collins,
00:00:18our chair of our full committee, will be joining us later today.
00:00:22So, following four years of spending under the Biden administration, President Trump
00:00:26is taking steps to rein in our bloated bureaucracy and ensure that taxpayers' dollars
00:00:31are well spent. The Department's request proposes to reduce funding for the agency
00:00:36by $4.6 billion, a decrease of nearly 35 percent. We look forward to hearing your testimony and
00:00:44discussing in greater detail your priorities, new proposals, and programs you think we should
00:00:48consider scaling back. This month, we continued to receive good news about the strength of the
00:00:53American economy. Our economy has added jobs every month since President Trump took office,
00:00:57and the unemployment rate has remained steady this past month at 4.2 percent. However,
00:01:02millions of Americans are still underemployed or have stopped looking for work altogether.
00:01:08We need to make sure that Americans have access to training programs,
00:01:11especially those that provide on-the-job training and those focused in high-demand jobs,
00:01:16which in West Virginia includes important industries like coal mining and health care.
00:01:20I'd like to see the Department take innovative approaches to expanding
00:01:24– and you and I have talked about this – apprenticeship opportunities to new programs
00:01:27and fields, as a lot of worthy apprenticeship opportunities don't fit the current registered
00:01:32apprenticeship mold. I'm interested in hearing more about how the Make America Skilled Again
00:01:38grant program will increase flexibility and improve outcomes for workers looking to upscale
00:01:43and advance their careers. I've also been a longtime champion of expanding and strengthening
00:01:48the early childhood education workforce through apprenticeships. Giving our educators a clear
00:01:53pathway to successful careers opens the door to higher quality and better coverage of care,
00:01:59but also helping both our families and child care workers throughout the states.
00:02:04Having a highly skilled workforce is critical, but it's only half the equation.
00:02:08We must also continue to have common-sense solutions to create an economic environment
00:02:13where businesses can thrive and create those good, well-paying jobs.
00:02:17I've been pleased to see this administration take steps to rein in unnecessary regulatory burdens
00:02:22that make it harder for businesses to create jobs. Earlier this month, the Department of Labor
00:02:27announced it will no longer enforce the Biden administration's independent contract rule,
00:02:35which jeopardized the ability of as many as 70 million freelancers, rideshare drivers,
00:02:40and other independent workers to earn a living in a way that best fits their needs and schedules.
00:02:46This rule would take away the freedom for West Virginia real estate agents, truck drivers,
00:02:50freelance riders, and other self-employed workers to choose their own hours and work
00:02:54around other life priorities like going back to school or raising their children.
00:02:59I hope to see this administration continue to remove bureaucratic red tape to allow companies
00:03:03to expand their workforce, grow their businesses, and show their employees how much they're valued
00:03:09in a growing economy. However, to be clear, not all regulations are bad. It is important
00:03:14to have appropriate protections in place to keep hardworking Americans, including our miners,
00:03:20safe. West Virginia is the second largest producer of coal in this country. For generations,
00:03:25coal miners in West Virginia have helped keep the lights on across the country.
00:03:30We built the country. But doing so has sometimes come at a great price.
00:03:35In the last couple of decades, West Virginia has experienced major mining tragedies at the
00:03:39Upper Big Branch Mine and Sago Mine, which claimed 29 and 12-9 lives, respectively.
00:03:46I hope to hear more about the administration's plan to ensure that their workplaces are safe
00:03:50and that our workers are able to return home to their loved ones at the end of the day.
00:03:55Secretary Chavez-Durima, as the fiscal year 26 appropriations process moves forward,
00:04:00I know we'll continue to work together to address priorities and find common ground
00:04:04on how to best responsibly allocate our taxpayers' resources.
00:04:08Thank you again for being here today, and I'll now turn it over to the ranking member,
00:04:12Senator Baldwin.
00:04:13Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Secretary. Thank you for being here today.
00:04:22We're here today to talk about the Trump administration's fiscal year 2026 budget
00:04:27request for the Department of Labor. Yet we have barely a page of information on the budget
00:04:35proposal less than five months before the start of the new fiscal year. What the administration
00:04:42has chosen to highlight in that one page is the establishment of a Make America Skilled Again
00:04:49block grant. A central element of that block grant is cutting funding for the department's
00:04:55workforce development programs by roughly half. This is a theme of this administration,
00:05:02slash programs that Congress created on a bipartisan basis for Americans,
00:05:07put a slogan on it, and say without any evidence great things will happen.
00:05:13This administration talks loudly about supporting and protecting American workers,
00:05:18but its actions are telling a very different story. Its chaotic tariff policies will mean
00:05:24fewer high-skilled jobs while increasing costs for workers. These cuts in this budget request
00:05:32would mean fewer opportunities for workers to gain the skills they need for good
00:05:37and high-paying jobs. The budget request for a new Make America Skilled Again program
00:05:45argues that it will promote the full range of post-secondary education and training options.
00:05:52Secretary Chavez de Riemer, if that were really the goal, I would be right there with you.
00:05:59I have long fought to boost trade schools, career and technical education, apprenticeships,
00:06:04and any proven pathway that gives people opportunities and a chance to succeed.
00:06:11But the real goal here is not that. The goal is cutting bipartisan programs that help my
00:06:18constituents get the skills they need to make room for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy,
00:06:25another theme of this administration. Madam Secretary, when we met a couple of months ago,
00:06:31there was more that we agreed on than we disagreed on. For example, we talked about
00:06:37the importance of registered apprenticeships. I have been proud to support efforts to expand
00:06:43them in Wisconsin. In our state, employers train 10,000 registered apprentices in 200 different
00:06:51occupations every year. But you're proposing cutting funds for states and local workforce
00:06:59training programs which support apprenticeships. Those cuts would be nearly a third. You're
00:07:05proposing to totally eliminate the Job Corps program. In my state, it's a program that gives
00:07:12so many students vital training and opportunities. And you have terminated already appropriated
00:07:20funding to increase and support apprenticeships in fields newer to the apprenticeship model,
00:07:27like teaching. It just doesn't add up. Between what you have already done and what you're proposing
00:07:34in your fiscal year 2026 budget, this will leave Wisconsinites with fewer opportunities to find
00:07:41that pathway to a good paying job and a stable life. And that's what we know from the very few
00:07:48details that have been provided so far. I'm worried about what other supports you might want to
00:07:55take away from workers when that full and detailed budget request comes out. I'm concerned that what
00:08:03I have seen at the department over the last four months doesn't bear any resemblance to our
00:08:09conversation priority or confirmation. That's because this administration is being led by OMB,
00:08:18Elon Musk, Doge, who are exerting unprecedented control over executive branch agencies and
00:08:27crossing the line of separation of powers. Madam Secretary, while I heard your words expressing
00:08:33support to combat forced labor and child labor exploitation around the globe, actions to date
00:08:40tell a different story. Terminating hundreds of millions of dollars in grants that our laws
00:08:47require the department to award and characterizing them as America's last programs
00:08:55reveals a different priority. That funding helps prevent labor exploitation abroad, which supports
00:09:03American workers here at home. As long as big multinational corporations can turn a blind eye
00:09:10toward labor abuses down their supply chains and get the green light to move operations to the
00:09:16lowest cost countries that don't respect workers' rights, American workers will pay the price.
00:09:24Madam Secretary, it's your job to make sure they compete on a level playing field where we will win.
00:09:31Here at home, the department has also been busy eliminating grants supporting women in the workforce.
00:09:37We've seen the chainsaw at work in eliminating grants to fight gender-based violence and harassment
00:09:43and support women in apprenticeships and non-traditional occupations. This effort,
00:09:49these grants, are not optional. They are in law. On a bipartisan basis, Democrats and Republicans
00:09:58put into law that your department invest in programs and issue grants that reduce barriers
00:10:07to work for women. Madam Secretary, you must be familiar with shortages of trained workers,
00:10:14and I am sorry to see that you're turning your back on support that opens doors for women
00:10:20to address these workforce needs. Finally, as a former member of Congress,
00:10:26you understand better than most the importance of transparency and the administration being
00:10:33responsive to Congress. What we have seen so far is simply not acceptable. When you're pressed for
00:10:40information about the department's workforce reduction during last week's House appropriation
00:10:45hearing, you provided all sorts of excuse of why you couldn't respond, including that you didn't
00:10:52have final figures. I wrote you two months ago and asked similar questions about workforce
00:10:58reductions through the most recent pay period, and you failed to provide the requested information.
00:11:06You're the head of this agency. The buck stops with you, and you're responsible for answering
00:11:11these questions. This is basic information this committee and Congress need to perform our
00:11:17constitutional duty. This is basic information Wisconsinites and Americans deserve because it's
00:11:24their tax dollars. You should also fundamentally understand our deep concern that it appears
00:11:31this administration is planning to ignore the law and illegally impound funds Congress
00:11:39appropriated. Your department was created to ensure that workers have safe workplaces, receive the pay
00:11:46they have earned, and have access to the high quality training they need to prepare them for
00:11:52in-demand jobs. That doesn't happen by saying you're putting workers first, but by acting to put
00:12:00them first. It's not too late to change course, and America's workers deserve nothing less.
00:12:08Thank you, Chair Capito. Thank you, Senator Baldwin, and now I would like to
00:12:16welcome our witness again, the Secretary of Labor, the 30th Secretary of Labor.
00:12:21She was confirmed in a bipartisan way on the Senate floor of 67 to 32. That's quite a feat
00:12:28in this environment, I will say, and Madam Secretary, we welcome your remarks for five minutes.
00:12:36Thank you, Chairman Capito, Ranking Member Baldwin, and members of the subcommittee.
00:12:41Thank you for the invitation to testify today. It's an honor to appear before the subcommittee
00:12:46to share the important work this administration is doing at the Department of Labor and discuss
00:12:52the President's fiscal year 2026 budget request. It's a privilege to serve as the 30th Secretary
00:12:58of Labor and lead the department's efforts on behalf of President Trump and the American
00:13:04workforce. My role as Secretary is to ensure the American worker is at the center of our
00:13:09economic strategy. The middle class, union workers, and small businesses have given us a clear mandate.
00:13:16It is my job to guarantee those men and women are not just heard, but respected and prioritized
00:13:22at every level of government. From the moment I was sworn in on March 11th, I promised to put
00:13:28American workers first, and that mission has guided my work from the very beginning.
00:13:34Through commonsense reforms, we will focus the Department of Labor on that same purpose, saving
00:13:40taxpayers' resources while safeguarding protections that are critical to the health and well-being of
00:13:46our workforce, like enforcement efforts, inspectors, and investigators. Additionally, I'm committed to
00:13:53having an open-door policy for every worker. As their liaison and advocate, I am committed to
00:14:00painting an accurate picture of laborers' needs and concerns to the President. I launched my
00:14:06listening tour, America at Work, to hear directly from the men and women on the ground who are
00:14:10living this day in and day out. The real-life insights and experiences are imperative to
00:14:17shaping federal labor policies and practices. I told my team when I began this tour that I want
00:14:23to visit all 50 states to better understand regional workforce needs, and we're making
00:14:29good headway. I've held my meetings with local leaders to learn more ways that the federal
00:14:33government can help develop a skilled workforce, improve infrastructure to attract business and
00:14:39investment, prioritize workers, and identify smart regulations that expand economic opportunity and
00:14:45drive job growth. From a training facility demonstration with the International Brotherhood
00:14:51of Electrical Workers in Pennsylvania to a day spent with students learning to become aviation
00:14:56mechanics in Nevada, I am experiencing and relaying these challenges and triumphs of America at Work.
00:15:03We have a responsibility to turn these stories into actions through smart reforms
00:15:08and federal solutions that deliver those results. This worker-centric approach is part of the
00:15:15broader economic momentum President Trump is driving. With nearly 10 trillion in private
00:15:20investments so far, Americans are seeing great progress in the growth of our jobs, our economy,
00:15:27and our competitive edge. To further stimulate economic growth, the Trump administration is
00:15:32overhauling the waste, fraud, and abuse that has characterized the federal government's use of tax
00:15:37dollars for decades. The Department of Labor is eliminating unnecessary red tape that stifles
00:15:43innovation. We are on track to restore freedom and purchasing power to hard-working men and women.
00:15:51For example, the Labor Department recently uncovered $4.4 billion of unspent and unusable
00:15:57COVID funding and is actively working to return that money to the Treasury in its entirety.
00:16:04When Americans' hard-earned tax dollars aren't wasted, more of their paychecks can go toward
00:16:09things that actually matter, putting food on the table, gas in the cars, and providing stability
00:16:14for our families. Workers are the cornerstone of our economic comeback, and that's exactly
00:16:20why America First policies matter. I stand by ready to equip, train, and support our workforce
00:16:26so that they can thrive in the ever-changing job market. Consistent with these efforts,
00:16:32the President's fiscal year 2026 budget gives states and localities flexibility to spend
00:16:38workforce dollars in a way that makes the most sense for them. By consolidating siloed federal
00:16:44training programs into a single Make America Skilled Again grant, states will be able to spend
00:16:50more time and money delivering high-quality training for their workers and less time
00:16:55complying with burdensome federal regulations. Pursuant to two critical executive orders, my
00:17:01department is hard at work to collaborate with the Departments of Commerce and Education to
00:17:06unlock the potential of the American worker. We are looking to strengthen registered apprenticeships,
00:17:12modernize workforce development programs, and invest in opportunities that upskill workers
00:17:17to meet current labor market demands. I'm confident that by revitalizing our workforce
00:17:23and preparing workers for the jobs of tomorrow, we are breathing life into the American dream.
00:17:29I believe, as you all do, that we must work together to foster an economy that ensures
00:17:34every American can thrive with good pay, safe working conditions, and that secure retirement.
00:17:41It is my honor to work on behalf of President Trump as we bring jobs back to the United States
00:17:46and put the American worker first again. I look forward to working with Congress each and every
00:17:52day on these important goals, and I look forward to our discussion here today. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
00:17:58Thank you. I'd like to next welcome the Chair of the Full Appropriations Committee,
00:18:05who's with us here today. She needs no introduction at all, but she's committed to leading
00:18:13this committee in a more functioning manner and hopefully on the floor with our Appropriations
00:18:19Bill. So welcome, Senator Collins. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Welcome, Madam Secretary.
00:18:26Madam Secretary, as you are well aware, last month the Department of Labor announced that enrollment
00:18:35at Maine's two Job Corps centers was abruptly halted. The Loring and the Penobscot Job Corps
00:18:44Centers serve nearly 500 students in Maine each year and have become important pillars of support
00:18:54for some of our most vulnerable teenagers. Loring also has 129 staff members and is one of the
00:19:05largest employers in rural northern Maine. Then the administration submitted a budget request
00:19:12that proposes to eliminate Job Corps altogether. This will deprive thousands, tens of thousands,
00:19:23of Job Corps students across the country of the opportunity to gain valuable skills and credentials
00:19:31to pursue higher education or enter the workforce or join the military.
00:19:39It's clear that Job Corps, while not perfect, works. And I want to tell you the personal story
00:19:48of a young woman and I've put up her pictures so that you can see her. I first met Ades Torres
00:19:59in 2008 when she was a Job Corps student in northern Maine at the Loring Center. She was
00:20:09originally from Connecticut. She was experiencing homelessness. She was in a very difficult,
00:20:20dangerous situation and she recognized that she needed to change her life. She learned about Job
00:20:28Corps largely by chance and I asked her, how did you choose the Job Corps Center in northern Maine?
00:20:36She said, I needed to get as far away in the northeast from the terrible environment in which
00:20:45I was living that I possibly could. Well, the story has a very happy ending. In 2019, I was the
00:20:58commencement speaker at Hudson University in Bangor. And who comes up to me but Ades? She has
00:21:07earned with honors her nursing degree. She went on to get her nurse practitioner degree. She totally
00:21:19turned around her life. And that is the second picture that I'm showing you. And you'll notice
00:21:28that she is holding in her hands the pictures that we took when the Job Corps students came
00:21:37in 2008 to see me here in Washington. Job Corps literally saved her life. And she has been
00:21:48in the medical field ever since. It was Job Corps that made this possible. So I, for the life of me,
00:22:00do not understand why the administration wants to eliminate this valuable program.
00:22:10And I know when we've had a discussion on the cost, it is so much more expensive if someone,
00:22:20because of the influence and lack of support, ends up addicted or sex trafficked or in jail
00:22:30than it is to have them go to a Job Corps Center and receive the guidance and skills that they
00:22:37need to turn around their lives. And I wanted to make this real to you by showing you the two
00:22:46pictures and the change in this young woman's life. So in making these decisions, did you consider
00:22:55the potential impact that halting enrollment at the two centers in Maine and then, which you did
00:23:04only in the state of Maine, and also proposing the elimination of the program on peoples like
00:23:15Ades whose life was changed and, I would argue, saved by Job Corps? Thank you, Chairman. I appreciate
00:23:25this. First and foremost, I want to say at the front end, we agree that this population is somebody
00:23:32we all care about. That is not the essence of what we're here to talk about, but we do have to discuss
00:23:38the sustainability of Job Corps. I was a Job Corps champion in Congress as well. I fought for all of
00:23:45these kids alongside of you. I understand how important they are to not only our respective
00:23:51states, but to our countries as well. We issued at the Department of Labor, and I know we've had this
00:23:56conversation and I know it will be ongoing with your office and many others because it's essential
00:24:01that we address the population of 16 to 24 who we are. These are really essentially pre-apprenticeship
00:24:09programs that we know that they need the skills and the training for their entire lives, as you
00:24:14said, can be many more things than just upskilling, but we do have to look at it from a perspective.
00:24:22Is it sustainable over time? And so we've released the Department of Labor a public
00:24:27transparency report that has never been done before and never exposed the costs for each and
00:24:32every state, and I know that I've shared with many of you the respective costs. I will continue to
00:24:39look at this, but the transparency report shines a light of the serious flaws of this program.
00:24:44So here's what I would say. Can we imagine together what it's like to continue to focus on
00:24:50this population throughout the country and do it better, more responsibly, and protect the
00:24:56American taxpayer? Because on the outcome, we want those tax dollars to be spent in a responsible
00:25:01way and still have the measured outcome that serves this young woman and many others. That's
00:25:07what I'm focused on doing, and I am committed to each and every one of you to work through that
00:25:11process and what that looks like. No final decision has been made, but we are reviewing
00:25:16every Job Corps facility, and I understand the President's budget is signaling that this is not
00:25:22something that is sustainable over time. It's a $1.7 billion program with a 38% graduation rate
00:25:31when oftentimes the cost of almost $50,000 per student and to get out about $156,000.
00:25:40We are in the hole now. I would have to come to the Appropriations Committee and ask for more money
00:25:44to just get us back to baseline to have a graduation rate of 32%. So can we do better?
00:25:50I think we can, and I'm committed to working with all of you because this population of people is
00:25:55important to me, just like it is to you. And so if you'll allow me to continue that conversation
00:26:01with you along the way, I promise you we won't forget this population. We want them trained,
00:26:06upskilled, reskilled, and have a job that changes their lives for the future of this country as well.
00:26:12Thank you, Madam Chair.
00:26:14Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you again for being here, Madam Secretary. I have a few
00:26:22questions to start with, which hopefully we can get through very quickly, but regarding
00:26:29communication and transparency. So first, thank you for submitting a timely spending plan as
00:26:35required by the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. I know that this is a time-consuming process,
00:26:41the Fiscal Year 2025 full-year continuing resolution. But what you submitted had some
00:26:49notations, footnotes, that there are ongoing reviews of certain funding allocations.
00:26:55So will you commit to having your staff provide periodic updates to the Appropriations Committee
00:27:01staff on that review and the Department's implementation of the appropriations law?
00:27:07Yes. Second, will you please commit to me that your staff will notify committee staff
00:27:14of any programmatic delays the Department experiences in spending any of the appropriated
00:27:21funds? Again, Fiscal Year 2025. Yeah, my goal is to always have the open conversations
00:27:25with the Appropriations Committee. And then finally, will you provide me with information on
00:27:30workforce reductions, including counts of the number of staff accepting deferred
00:27:36resignations for each of the Department's offices through the most recent pay period?
00:27:41Yeah, thank you, Senator Baldwin. If I might elaborate just a tad on that. You mentioned
00:27:46the House Appropriations Committee. Congressman Sandy Hoyer asked me that exact question. I did
00:27:52not have that information at that point. So we're still in that 45-day window. Approximately 2,700
00:27:59employees have opted to take that DRP. I reported that out also to Congressman Hoyer as well. So
00:28:06just as an FYI. And also for our inspectors and our investigators, which I think is key to the
00:28:11Department of Labor, the essential workers through OSHA, MSHA, and Wage and Hour Division, we have
00:28:18exempted from taking that program because they are essential to the Department of Labor for the
00:28:22enforcement. Okay. And I want to just comment on the deferred resignation program because
00:28:33this administration has been crystal clear that it wants to significantly reduce the
00:28:40federal workforce. And the President's Executive Order 14210 says agency heads
00:28:47shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force. And information
00:28:54provided to federal employees about the deferred resignation program indicated that the federal
00:28:59workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes. As a result of these changes,
00:29:05or for other reasons, you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide
00:29:10you with sufficient time and economic security to plan your future. This is really doing everything
00:29:17in my mind to tell employees to leave because if they don't, they're probably going to get fired.
00:29:24But anyways, Madam Secretary, I'm concerned that this administration is paying lip service to
00:29:32protecting and supporting American workers, but then taking actions that harm them. We see the
00:29:38chaotic approach to tariffs impacting small businesses and larger employers who have had
00:29:45their supply chains disrupted and their workers paying the price with reduced work hours and
00:29:51price hikes to come. The Department has pushed out approximately 20 percent of its staff who are
00:29:58now being paid not to work, which will seriously undermine the Department's ability to fulfill
00:30:05its mission to support American workers. This includes forcing out about 25 percent of the staff
00:30:11at the Employee Benefits Security Administration that we call EBSA, responsible for protecting
00:30:17the benefits of more than 156 million American workers and retirees. So prior to implementing
00:30:24these staffing reductions, did you do an evaluation of the impact that it would have on EBSA being able
00:30:31to do its job to protect Americans' benefits if 25 percent fewer people were working there?
00:30:38At the Department of Labor, our goal is to fulfill the mission of every agency, and that is protecting
00:30:44workers' rights and benefits. That's an essential part of the core mission. I can tell you there are
00:30:49oftentimes, what's important to me as the agency head, is to make sure that spending more money
00:30:56doesn't necessarily get us the outcomes that we need. I can tell you the tariff, the tariff
00:31:01conversation... So you did an evaluation of what the impact would be on protecting workers' benefits by
00:31:07cutting that division by 25 percent? We will always protect the American worker. It's essential to the
00:31:12Department of Labor. So you did an evaluation prior to pushing out 25 percent of those workers?
00:31:17As I came into office, I had committed to this committee and every other committee and the full
00:31:22committee to do every evaluation in every agency so I can pull back the curtain and understand
00:31:27exactly what I'm leading. I would appreciate your sharing that evaluation and analysis with
00:31:33the committee, and I will submit some further questions for the record because I have quite
00:31:39a few others. Thank you. Thank you. Madam Secretary, we've talked about this issue, but
00:31:46it's about the West Virginia Department of Transportation and the Davis-Bacon wage
00:31:49determinations for highway construction. They're just unworkable. When the Biden administration
00:31:55published these wage determinations, West Virginia DOT was not given any prior notice
00:32:00of the proposed changes and therefore was unable to provide feedback and comments to DOL for
00:32:05publication. The Biden wage determinations left out key job classifications that are commonly used
00:32:11on highway projects. It's been very frustrating. The absence of these classifications has required
00:32:16West Virginia DOT to go through a complicated administrative process with DOL to determine
00:32:21proper wages. You know, we're missing the construction season here as part of what I'm
00:32:25doing or getting to. This has been significant delays in advertising but also awarding construction
00:32:33projects. I know that your staff has been working on this with our West Virginia DOT and with me
00:32:39and my office to make sure that our highways are safe and durable and drivable. So will you commit
00:32:44to continue working with me to resolve this issue to ensure that West Virginia's highway construction
00:32:51projects can begin without undue burden? Yeah, absolutely, and I know my staff has been in touch
00:32:56with your staff and West Virginia DOT to try to resolve these specific issues. I am committed
00:33:03to working with the wage and hour to ensure that prevailing wage are being correctly calculated
00:33:08and applied appropriately. So I am committed to working with you on this issue. Thank you, that's
00:33:12a timely request. Let's talk about MSHA. I mentioned it in my opening statements. Obviously, it's
00:33:18important to a state like West Virginia, the health and safety of our nation's miners. I'm really
00:33:22concerned because I'm hearing from my constituents that MSHA offices in West Virginia are closing.
00:33:28I'm worried that will reduce the number of mine inspections, which are essential to ensuring that
00:33:33coal that powers our nation is mined safely and that workers return home to their families.
00:33:38West Virginians know far too well the importance of keeping our miners safe on the job, having
00:33:45endured the tragedies that I mentioned earlier. Can you elaborate on MSHA's plan for office closures
00:33:50in West Virginia? I'm going to name the three that we had heard recently that were going to be
00:33:55closed. Those were in Summersville, Mount Hope, and in Welch. Thank you again. There's no worker,
00:34:01including our miners, which I know are very important to you in West Virginia, that should
00:34:06be concerned about not returning home safe. My goal as the agency head is to make sure every
00:34:11worker is protected. As far as it relates to the MSHA offices, we're working with GSA. That is under
00:34:17GSA's purview. I'm working with them and advocating for those leases to stay open
00:34:23throughout. I don't have the exact number for you, but it's a critical mission to keep for our
00:34:28inspectors and our investigators to be there to make sure that they're assisting to make sure
00:34:31those miners are safe. I will give you that updated list, but it is to keep those offices
00:34:37open and retain those leases, but we're working on those now. Much appreciated. I would say
00:34:43that close proximity, it's tough to get from one place to the other in case of an emergency. It can
00:34:49really create a lot of lag time if we don't have MSHA there and with our companies and our workers
00:34:56to be able to not just be protective, but to react in case of an emergency. Absolutely. Please
00:35:01keep that front and center. Let me ask you this question. What is it? Make America skilled again?
00:35:08That's right. When you say that you've folded, I think I'm hearing that you folded workforce
00:35:15programs into one big bucket. How many different programs do we have in workforce development?
00:35:22There are several. The goal is to work with our state partners. I can tell you as I tour around,
00:35:30see all 50 states and visit with the American worker and visit with our community colleges,
00:35:37our career and technical education schools, the flexibility and modernization of getting
00:35:42that workforce investment is going to be key. I look forward to working with Congress on
00:35:46WIOA, making sure that they have the information that they need to get that through Congress
00:35:51as a former member and supporting that on education and workforce. It's going to
00:35:54be key for workforce investment. It's the flexibility of doing so with our respective
00:36:00states. Yes, make America skilled again through essentially a block grant for the flexibility
00:36:07in order for them to have access. That's going to be key for those local communities.
00:36:12Okay. In my mind, what has worked in some instances in West Virginia has been a public-private
00:36:19partnership with workforce programs where students who are maybe a junior, senior,
00:36:24maybe they're in career and technical, maybe they're in regular high school, they don't really
00:36:29are unsure as to what direction they want to go. I'll use Toyota as an example. They work with the
00:36:37local community college to do a blended work study kind of program that at the end really can result
00:36:45in a full-time job, a life job with a great company of Toyota. I'm sure you're doing this,
00:36:53but there's a lot of companies come to us and say, we can't find the workforce, we can't do this.
00:37:00The money spent upfront with younger students so they can be exposed to different kinds of
00:37:07careers and also through a work study kind of a program that really
00:37:12shows them the benefit of working, the benefit of making, the benefit of learning,
00:37:16the benefit of being able to move up. We have to have the private sector right there with us.
00:37:22I couldn't agree with you more. The sponsorship, so to speak, of these companies. I just visited
00:37:26that in Arizona, the exact same model. We're seeing best practices across the country from
00:37:32a lot of our businesses working with our local education systems to do just that. It's finally
00:37:37that connection between what is the market demand, how can we train them specifically in
00:37:43their respective states and have the outcome for the companies who are asking us for A, B, and C
00:37:48of the type of workers they need. How we connect those dots is essential for me. That is the key
00:37:53to my America at Work tour to visit all 50 states and understand what the market demand is and how
00:37:59we connect those dots. That is going to come through Make America Skilled Again grants.
00:38:03Thank you. Senator Reed.
00:38:05Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Welcome, Madam Secretary.
00:38:10Thank you for the thoughtful call this week. I appreciate it very much.
00:38:16Like Senator Collins, I'm troubled by the proposed elimination of Job Corps.
00:38:22She said very passionately, and I support her 120%. As I discussed with you over the phone,
00:38:31we have a Job Corps Center in Exeter, Rhode Island. It's not only critical to these young
00:38:37men and women to develop their talents and be productive members of our society, but also
00:38:43it's a key aspect of our submarine production with their relationships to
00:38:49Electric Boat at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. If we don't have these trained and skilled workers,
00:38:53we will fall behind further and further in terms of submarine production, which will be
00:38:58a detrimental, is an understatement to our national security.
00:39:05Again, I think it's something that we have to seriously reconsider, this reduction.
00:39:11What I've heard already is that you ceased background checks on new students, so
00:39:18they cannot enroll new students going forward at this point.
00:39:21Yeah, there is a pause.
00:39:22So that pause is really preventing young people from qualifying to go and start the next year of
00:39:32school.
00:39:35As we continue to review, there is a pause because, again, the transparency report,
00:39:40what we're seeing in costs, no final decision has been made. That's why I'm so committed to working
00:39:45with each and every one of you and understanding that. I know through our conversation on the phone,
00:39:50Senator, in your respective state, how important this was for you. I think we talked a little bit
00:39:54about the numbers. You have the one job core center, Exeter, that you mentioned that's specific
00:40:01and intentional in working with the companies. While there's a difference in certain job core
00:40:06centers, I know that the cost per enrollee there is $65,000 and cost per graduate is about $191,000.
00:40:14What we also know, as I mentioned, kind of as a whole, the overall graduation rate is about 38%.
00:40:20And so, again, most of the job core graduates that they come out are making just under $17,000
00:40:27a year. So my goal is to not forget this population and work with you all on how we transition to a
00:40:34pre-apprenticeship. And the president's executive order on 1 million apprentices throughout the
00:40:39country is going to be a directive to me and the Department of Labor to make sure that we are
00:40:45addressing that across the board. Well, let's go to that transparency report you refer to
00:40:49consistently. All these numbers are based upon data from really the heart of the COVID epidemic,
00:40:59in which, because of COVID, 34% enrollment was at 34%. Today, enrollment is at 75%.
00:41:08And if you ran those numbers today, the cost per student would go down dramatically. So your
00:41:15argument that this is just a waste and too expensive is a direct result, a calculated result
00:41:21of picking the most favorable point you could to reinforce an argument I would suspect the
00:41:28administration had before you even got there, which is let's get rid of this program and find
00:41:32some numbers to justify it. That's not a true statement. What year are these numbers coming
00:41:40from? Well, they are pre-COVID, but the same amount of dollars were spent despite how many
00:41:46enrollees were there. So it's more than just the one-legged part of the stool of the cost.
00:41:50The transparency report also let us understand that there are other flaws in the program. And
00:41:56through that transparency report, we saw that there are many of these students who are in
00:41:59harm's way, whether through rape, murder, incident reports that have come out. So I have
00:42:05to look at the whole picture, but I can tell you this, I want to care about the apprenticeship
00:42:11side of this. So it's not a forgotten on this population. I will work with you specifically
00:42:16in your state to address those students. Let's look at the transparency report another way.
00:42:23It appears to count students, for example, going to military service or further education
00:42:29as having zero earnings. As a result, you can make the argument that after all this money is
00:42:36spent, these young people don't get jobs worthwhile, et cetera. This is a calculated,
00:42:43not transparent, but deceptive report in my view. So I would hope you would recognize that and
00:42:51review it. The other aspect I think we have to stress straight is this block grant approach
00:42:57to training. I've been serving here for a while. The block grant is a deliberate approach that's
00:43:06been taken by many administrations to gradually end programs. Because all you do is the next year,
00:43:14if inflation is 3%, the block grant goes up 1%. And after about five or so years,
00:43:20states begin to say, we're not getting enough money to do this. Why should we put money in?
00:43:26Further complicating the block grant approach is that if you look at the totality of the Trump
00:43:32budget, the question in states, your state, West Virginia, how are we going to make up
00:43:38the cuts to Medicaid that will basically undermine our entire health care system?
00:43:43How are we going to make up the cuts to elementary and secondary education? For example,
00:43:49in my state of Rhode Island, $34 million from Medicaid goes into taking care of young students
00:43:54there. Does the state just say, well, we can't afford that anymore, et cetera?
00:43:59So what you're going to see in reality is that this block grant will rapidly deteriorate to
00:44:05nothing. And two, states will not have the ability, your partnership, because given the choice of
00:44:12saving a health care system or saving a school system, I would suspect they would choose that
00:44:19over some of this training. So again, this approach seems to me to be entirely
00:44:27unsubstantiated by real analysis and something that's going to cause more problems. And it's
00:44:34not going to deliver training to young people. And the other thing is, no, clever remarks,
00:44:44the downfall of people. Thank you. Thank you, Senator.
00:44:50Thank you. We're waiting. We're in the middle of a vote. So I'm going to take license here to
00:44:54ask another question. As you look across the whole labor statistics and jobs of the future,
00:45:07where are the biggest shortages that you're hearing at the Department of Labor
00:45:12that you can project over to the next five to 10 years?
00:45:17Well, as we do the full analysis, we're seeing the manufacturing jobs come back. As I visit with
00:45:23companies and businesses throughout the country on this tour, and even previous to that in Congress,
00:45:29as you know, we meet with many corporations and businesses and the American worker, as well as
00:45:35a former mayor, understanding what's on the ground. So we're seeing the manufacturing jobs,
00:45:38construction jobs, come back to the United States. It's that missing connection right out
00:45:46of college into these companies. Also, what we're seeing is AI. We're seeing that as well come
00:45:53forward and how we're going to direct the future and the modernization and assist the American
00:45:58worker with artificial intelligence. And that's another executive order from the president is to
00:46:03train these American workers to that degree as they're needed. If we're talking about workforce
00:46:10development in agriculture as well, the precision agriculture, what we're seeing is incredible on
00:46:16the ground. So there's a lot of sectors. We're seeing those job numbers come back. 177,000 new
00:46:21jobs last month, 228 the month before, almost 451,000 new jobs have come forward since the
00:46:28president took the helm. And so I'm looking forward for that to grow.
00:46:31Before I turn to Senator Murphy, I would put health care on the list. Senator Murphy.
00:46:36Those numbers went up as well, Senator.
00:46:38They're still, I mean, you hear it everywhere. I'm sure you hear it in your state.
00:46:41But they're coming back.
00:46:44Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good to see you, Madam Secretary. Thank you very much for
00:46:49being here. When we had a chance to talk during your confirmation hearing, I raised
00:46:57a worry that I think reflects what many Americans are talking about today, the access that a handful
00:47:05of very powerful people have to the president, to the White House, and to this administration.
00:47:11It feels like if you're powerful, if you have connections to the president, you can get
00:47:17some special deals. And in particular, a lot of folks in this country have been very concerned
00:47:25about what Elon Musk's agenda has been. What is he getting? And it seems over and over again
00:47:32that the cuts that are happening throughout the government are specifically advantaging
00:47:38Elon Musk and his companies. And so I want to ask you about a office that has essentially
00:47:44been eliminated under your watch and ask you to explain to us what the story is here.
00:47:54The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is a really important office that
00:48:00has been supported by Republican and Democratic presidents. In fact, President Trump, during his
00:48:04first term, talked pretty glowingly about the success it had had in cracking down on the abuse
00:48:10of workers, in particular discrimination against workers. You have effectively eliminated this
00:48:17office. You have reduced its employee count from 480 to 50. That's a 90 percent reduction.
00:48:25There were 55 offices protecting workers all across the country. There are now four. The office
00:48:31in Hartford, Connecticut has been closed. All of this is likely illegal because we have appropriated
00:48:38money for this agency and its functions. You are not allowed to just eliminate appropriations that
00:48:45have been mandated by Congress. But of course it's had a real impact on workers. Workers no longer
00:48:51have this agency representing them. And in particular, this seems like it worked out very
00:48:57well for Elon Musk because there was an open investigation against one of his facilities
00:49:05in Fremont. And I can't even actually say out loud the words connected to this allegation
00:49:17because black employees at this Tesla facility were allegedly subject to routine racial abuse,
00:49:25pervasive stereotyping, and hostility. The epithets range from the n-word to monkey to boy to other
00:49:36insults I can't say in this committee. And there was an open investigation
00:49:42relative to the abuse of black employees at this facility. That investigation is now closed.
00:49:50That seems like a really convenient win for Elon Musk. And so tell us what's going on here. How do
00:49:59you justify the cloture of an agency that was supporting workers, protecting workers? And
00:50:11I'd love to know if you had had any conversations with Elon Musk or his representatives who were
00:50:17in your agency on behalf of DOJ relative to the cloture of this specific agency.
00:50:23Thank you, Senator. Well, first and foremost, our nation's non-discrimination laws
00:50:29continue to be fully enforced at the Department of Labor and anywhere else.
00:50:35On top of that, as you know, I will not be able to discuss this because it is under litigation
00:50:41now. So I cannot go into any other comments in regards to that. And that would be true for
00:50:46many things that the Department of Labor is being sued for I cannot discuss.
00:50:52You can certainly discuss with this committee why you eliminated the agency.
00:50:58I mean, this is a legitimate matter for the Appropriations Committee. You can tell us
00:51:04why you eliminated the agency. And you can certainly answer a question as to whether
00:51:08you had any conversations with Elon Musk about the elimination of this agency,
00:51:12which was actively investigating one of his facilities.
00:51:17I cannot discuss it as it's in litigation. I have had Elon Musk. It's no special treatment
00:51:21from the Department of Labor or from me. Is it true that that investigation into his facility,
00:51:27again, these are really outrageous allegations. I have no reference to even that case. No
00:51:35conversation. But you can confirm that it was closed? I don't even know about that specific
00:51:41case. I would not be able to comment on that. All right. Can you answer that question to the
00:51:47committee? Can you answer that for the record? I mean, if you don't know now, can you get the
00:51:52answer to that as to whether that specific investigation into the Tesla facility was
00:51:59closed? As it relates to OFCCP, I cannot comment because it is in litigation. I know nothing about
00:52:04that case. Well, you can certainly tell this committee whether investigations are open or
00:52:10closed. I'm not asking you to do it now. You say you don't know. I'll consult with my team and my
00:52:15legal team and get back to you on that. Well, Madam Chair, there is a lot of litigation pending,
00:52:21but that should not shut down the oversight role of this committee to get information as to why key
00:52:30oversight agencies have been closed or information regarding open investigations. So I look forward
00:52:37to working with the chairman and the ranking member and you to make sure that litigation
00:52:41doesn't get used as an excuse to try to paper over what may be some pretty substantial problems
00:52:46and potentially undue influence by Trump's billionaire friends at the Department of Labor.
00:52:50That is not the case. And non-discrimination laws are fully enforced 100% at the Department
00:52:56of Labor and will continue to be. And I look forward to working with you as well, Senator.
00:53:00Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for being here today.
00:53:06I represent Mississippi, and our state is experiencing strong economic momentum with
00:53:12record-breaking capital investment and job creation. However, our labor force participation
00:53:18rates remains one of the lowest in the nation. We face challenges such as being predominantly
00:53:25rural, high poverty rates, and several other barriers as well. This complicates reliable
00:53:33data collection, especially when it's not sourced from trusted state-level partners. We've also
00:53:40seen growing concerns with studies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, particularly as
00:53:46surveys' response rates do continue to decline. Do you believe states should play a larger role
00:53:53in collecting labor market data to ensure more accurate information to support policymaking to
00:53:59help out-of-work Americans get jobs? Well, thank you for the question, and it's so nice to have
00:54:05visited with you, and thank you for being here today. Bureau of Labor Statistics is independent
00:54:11of the Department of Labor and will continue to be. That's an important, again, the data is
00:54:19important, but it is independent of the Department of Labor, and I can't put my thumb on the scale
00:54:24for the collection of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whether the state would do a
00:54:30more accurate job, or, let's see, I understand that.
00:54:37One of the things that we're concerned about is human trafficking. Absolutely. And, of course,
00:54:43it's just an unspeakable atrocity. This continues to plague our nation at deeply alarming rates.
00:54:51Labor trafficking, a form of exploitation that forces individuals to work through coercion,
00:54:57fraud, or by force. It's particularly troubling among this crisis. It's happening in every state,
00:55:05and it's something we must confront head-on. Can you elaborate on the Department's approach
00:55:11to combating labor exploitation and human trafficking, especially as it pertains to
00:55:16your collaboration with law enforcement? Yeah, thank you again for that. Combating
00:55:23the exploitation of any child should be not tolerated by anyone, any company, any business,
00:55:29anyone in the federal government. So that is a number one goal for the Department of Labor,
00:55:33is to combat child labor, child trafficking, human trafficking. And so working with our
00:55:38law enforcement teams is essential to combating that. But at the Department of Labor, our goal
00:55:45is to fully enforce the law and make sure that we are using the full enforcement capability of
00:55:49the Department of Labor to crack down if someone is knowingly breaking that law. And we will double
00:55:54down to do that. And how are staff at the Department being provided with training and
00:55:59support to enhance the identification of potential trafficking situations? What's
00:56:04your training program like? Well, it's essential through the Department of Labor to make sure that
00:56:10we have the highest skilled employees, to make sure that we can work with our state partners and
00:56:15our businesses throughout the country, so that we can identify where that is happening and we can
00:56:23have that enforcement agency make sure that we're reaching out and through the Inspector General's
00:56:28office, as well as our enforcement offices, to go in and be able to understand what the
00:56:35possibility or the alleged, you know, if it's child labor, if it's child trafficking, that we
00:56:42can get the full picture in order to, that they understand that we have to have that in the full
00:56:46enforcement of the law. So you're comfortable with the training practices you have in place now?
00:56:52Well, it's essential that we make sure that that is a, the enforcement capabilities of the
00:56:56Department of Labor is unique to this agency, that we have the full enforcement through our
00:57:01Inspector Generals and our agents on the ground. Is this, is there anything this committee can do
00:57:07to assist you or your agency in that? Well, I would certainly like to have a more comprehensive
00:57:14conversation, maybe specifics in your respective states, about what you need from the Department
00:57:19of Labor and work together. Great, thank you very much. And I also, as with Senator Collins, I'm
00:57:26concerned about the Job Corps Center's locations in Mississippi closing. And, you know, hopefully
00:57:32we will have something to replace that, because it is a great concern. They're all over the state,
00:57:37Gulfport, Batesville, Crystal Springs is close to me, and it is very valuable to Mississippi. And
00:57:44I would like to just associate myself with Senator Collins's comments. And now we go to Senator Britt.
00:57:52Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and thank you for bringing up those important issues. I think
00:57:58we're all seeing that in our states, and so look forward to working with you to make sure that
00:58:02we get these things right. So, Madam Secretary, you have hit the ground running at the Department
00:58:07of Labor. You just kicked off your America Works tour, America at Work. Yeah, so tell me about
00:58:14that. Obviously, you've been listening, learning, coast to coast. We certainly want to have you
00:58:19in Alabama. But I'd love to know, what are you hearing from people all across the country? What
00:58:24are their greatest concerns? And what things do you feel like you need to be taking action on?
00:58:29Well, certainly the topic is the workforce. And when I'm on the ground, and part of the equation
00:58:33of how we're going to grow this economy, you know, the President has a mandate that growing the
00:58:38American economy is key, giving more power to the people, keeping more money in their heart,
00:58:43in their pockets. So connecting the dots of the workforce to what the market demand is. So on the
00:58:48ground, the questions that I ask when I'm visiting with these American workers is, what are the
00:58:52barriers? How can we assist you? What's the workforce training? What gets in the way of you
00:58:57deciding to join the labor force? And those answers can be vast. Yeah. Obviously, it can be families,
00:59:06it can be childcare, it could be funding to get the skills that they need. So my job is to fill
00:59:13in those gaps. How can I assist in doing those? And so some of the things that we're hearing,
00:59:17not only from the companies are, we want more workers, men and women to join the labor force,
00:59:22we want that participation rate to go up. And it's been holding steady, we want it to go up.
00:59:26Absolutely. So that's one of the things we talk about in our state is how do we increase our labor
00:59:30participation rate? You touched on a number of things. And I think my colleagues have asked
00:59:35some questions about apprenticeships and that kind of thing. I want to hone in on one thing
00:59:38that really hasn't been discussed today that you just brought up, and that is childcare.
00:59:42Whether I am at the top of the state or the bottom of the state, or whether I'm at my largest
00:59:46manufacturer or a small business on Main Street, they say workforce is an issue and they continually
00:59:54either lose people because of reliability or affordability of childcare, and or it is more
01:00:00challenging to recruit. When we started digging in on this, we saw that about 59% of stay at home
01:00:08and or non-working or part-time working parents say they want to re-engage in the workforce,
01:00:14but that affordability or accessibility of childcare is an impediment to that.
01:00:19Now, look, if you want and have the opportunity to stay home, I absolutely want that for you.
01:00:24But if you want to re-engage in the workforce and help with President Trump's vision of building
01:00:28back America, then I want to make sure that we remove those impediments. You know, a question
01:00:34for you, and certainly don't want to ask you to comment on any specifics, but you can say
01:00:40definitively that this is something you hear from workers, both large and small, and employers
01:00:45across the country. Absolutely, and you know, in Congress, I heard it as well. I did a listening
01:00:50tour in Congress through agriculture. That's not a place that I would have thought I would have
01:00:54heard childcare for our farmers and ranchers. And what we've seen is that between the ages of
01:01:00zero and five, a parent spends about 22% of their income on childcare. When you look at our economy
01:01:06across the board, it's $122 billion a year we lose to this reliability issue. I have a specific
01:01:13piece of legislation, a bipartisan piece of legislation, the Child Care Affordability or
01:01:18Availability and Affordability Act that really puts parents back in the driver's seat and also
01:01:23encourages businesses, both large and small, to be a part of the solution. I think it's critically
01:01:29important that we empower parents, we empower hard-working Americans, and we help create a path
01:01:36for their American dream and for prosperity. So not asking you to comment on the specifics of
01:01:42my legislation, but knowing that we could be doing more to help these hard-working parents,
01:01:48I think you would say that's something that you agree with. Absolutely, and whatever technical
01:01:52assistance I can give to any member of Congress as they move their own legislation through,
01:01:57I'm glad to do it and give you that data that you might need to work with your... Wonderful,
01:02:01well, we'd love to continue to work with you as we build momentum. We've been building it in a
01:02:05bipartisan way. I think this is something Americans deserve better from us, and we're trying to
01:02:11produce that. Last year, I actually asked the Federal Reserve Chair about, you know, these
01:02:17common-sense reforms that I'm talking to you about and said, if we were to do this, you know, would
01:02:22this actually help with our labor participation rate? And, you know, he said, absolutely. So I'm
01:02:27glad that you agree with that as well. In my last few seconds, just want to talk a little bit
01:02:33about apprenticeship programs. I know that there has been some different information out there and
01:02:37wanted to give you an opportunity to speak to the fact that President Trump and obviously
01:02:43the Department value these apprenticeship programs and continue to work to create pathways for them.
01:02:49Well, thank you. I'll be brief. One million apprentices is what the President is asking
01:02:54in order to fulfill the need for those workers to grow this economy. We have
01:03:00anywhere between 680,000 to 700,000 apprentices now. We want more apprentices in the pipeline. So
01:03:06we're working very diligently through the Department of Labor to have that really lean
01:03:11into those registered apprenticeships and give the tools that are necessary for those companies to
01:03:16say that's what we want to do. So for an example, International Association of Firefighters just
01:03:20launched their first apprenticeship program because we know we need our firefighters throughout the
01:03:25country. And so, again, I think we've added about 83 apprentices since January. And so we're well
01:03:30on our way to that million. Thank you so much. I look forward to working with you on all these
01:03:33issues. Thank you, Senator. Senator Baldwin. Thank you. Senator Britt just teed up the path that I
01:03:42wanted to take on registered apprenticeships. It's obviously a high quality pathway to help
01:03:49workers find jobs that pay good wages. And since fiscal year 2016, Congress has worked in a
01:03:56bipartisan way to invest in apprenticeships. I've long been a champion of registered apprenticeships
01:04:03as Wisconsin was the first state in the country, we talked about this, to have one. And I was
01:04:09particularly excited to see expansion of registered apprenticeships in new sectors,
01:04:15including in education. It can be hard to stand up a new apprenticeship. And the federal
01:04:21government has funded intermediaries to help provide technical assistance to do just that
01:04:27and other supports to entities that are interested in creating or growing registered apprenticeships.
01:04:36And it's why, and I said this in my opening comments, but I was really disappointed that
01:04:42in the first few months of Trump's presidency, we seem to be going backwards on apprenticeship
01:04:50expansion. The administration has canceled several apprenticeship contracts, including
01:04:56contracts that were helping various communities grow their apprenticeship programs. And then the
01:05:02president's fiscal year 26 skinny budget request came out, which seeks to really decimate funding
01:05:08at Department of Labor, state and local workforce programs by over a third. At the same time,
01:05:16President Trump also issued an executive order calling for, as you just mentioned,
01:05:201 million new apprentices in our nation. And those actions seem to be at odds with one another. So,
01:05:29Madam Secretary, will cutting funding for apprenticeship programs and significantly
01:05:34cutting funding for workforce training programs that support apprenticeship programs, how does
01:05:41that advance the goal of 1 million new apprentices? Well, doing business as it's been done in the past
01:05:49hasn't always produced the best outcomes. I am working very closely with this administration
01:05:55on reaching that goal of 1 million apprentices throughout the country. And as you've just heard
01:05:59me say, we've added about 83,000. Working, Chairman Capito said the same thing, working
01:06:06through the public-private partnerships and assisting our federal and state relationships,
01:06:12fostering that, I think is what's key here. You know, as a former mayor and on the ground,
01:06:17it was essential to me to understand where our needs were in the education system with our
01:06:22community colleges, our career and technical education, partnering them with private sector
01:06:27and public sector, I think is where the key is, and making it easy to modernize. I just sat with
01:06:34the department yesterday to talk about the apprenticeship program and how we can develop
01:06:38a more streamlined, modern approach to make it easier and more flexible to even work the system
01:06:44in itself. So, while I think saving money is reconciliation with doing the same thing...
01:06:50Those contracts were terminated. Do you know why those contracts were terminated? If that's
01:06:54just the approach that you say you'd like to take? Well, the approach is that we want to
01:07:00grow the apprenticeship program, and that's exactly what we're doing, and we're going to
01:07:03continue to do so. And that is being on the ground and understanding what the market demand is.
01:07:08I will do everything in my power to make sure that our workforce investments are key to our
01:07:13respective industries and work with those partners to develop those. So, registered apprenticeship
01:07:19programs are successful because of important standards that ensure apprentices are trained
01:07:26to learn the skills they need in a safe setting. And I want to be clear, to reach the goal of
01:07:331 million new apprentices with more limited resources, as is in the skinny budget,
01:07:39weakening the standards of registered apprenticeship programs is not on the table.
01:07:44We're not... The goal is to enhance, promote, and foster, and grow these apprenticeship programs.
01:07:51We want to protect the American worker. That is the... Everything I do, every single morning,
01:07:55when I walk into that office, I think about the American worker first. Every decision that is
01:07:59made, and we're going to make it better for the American worker. That's what the president is
01:08:03asking me to do. That is why we're bringing so many people to the table, and that's why you're
01:08:07going to see this economy grow for the American worker. And I will never get off that point that
01:08:11the American worker will come first. Okay. Thank you again for being here,
01:08:16Madam Secretary. That will end our hearing today, and I'd like to thank my fellow committee members
01:08:22for thoughtful questions and thoughtful conversation. And thank you again, Madam Secretary.
01:08:28For any senators who wish to ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due
01:08:35one week after the full budget request is released. And the hearing record will also
01:08:40remain open until then for members who wish to submit additional materials for the record.
01:08:46The subcommittee will now stand in recess. Thank you.