why can't the democrats sit back and allow in the next four years for trump. why are they challenging everything he does? we had to put up with biden. please allow our choice as president to go forward. that's all i have to say. host: all right, dennis. dennis in missouri there. republican caller. william in houston, texas. democratic caller. caller: good morning, c-span. caller: good morning, c-span. for everybody who can't afford to be republican, that means anybody making less than $500,000 a year or -- cut off at $100,000, i hope they get everything they deserve. i just did my taxes, not my taxes, my son's taxes. he made $75,000, he's head of household. had to pay over $5,000 in taxes. so i hope everybody out there that voted for this thing that

can't afford to vote for republican, like i can afford to be a republican, ok? even though i'm not. so it's not going to hurt me. but everybody out there that make less than $100,000 a year or $200,000, you're going to get exactly you what deserve which is nothing. zero. have a good day. host: chuck in new york. independent. hi, chuck. caller: hi, how are you? host: good morning. caller: good morning. well, anyway. i think there's certainly an amount of people who have no idea what's in the bill and what could happen relative to down the line. the people who support trump, you know, some of them are certainly educated, to know what's in the bill and how it might effect them. there's others who have no clue. and i firmly believe that the

cuts in medicare, because they will be there, even though it's sort of on the side, and medicaid, it will cost people's lives. this is certainly something that is going to come back to haunt probably a lot of these republicans who frankly just go along with whatever i guess massie has no concerns about running for his office again. but bottom line is, there's so many people who have no clue. and can i just add this. that things have changed so drastically for the last 30 years. i'm an old guy. predominantly the people who call in to c-span. host: chuck, i apologize. i've got to leave it there because the labor secretary, president trump's labor secretary, she's in the committee room up on capitol hill. she's getting ready to take her

seat, to testify before senators on his request for her department. we have live coverage here on c-span. we'll bring you up to capitol hill. thank you all for watching and spending your hours with c-span and being part of the conversation this morning on the "washington journal." [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] >> good morning, madam secretary, and thank you for being here today. thank you for being here. senator capito: i'm happy to have susan collins, the chair of our full committee will be joining us later today.

the department's request proposes to reduce funding for the agency by $4.6 billion, a decrease of nearly 35%. we look forward to hearing your testimony and discussing in greater detail your priorities, new proposals and programs you think we should consider scaling back. this month we continue to receive good news about the strength of the american economy. our economy has added jobs every month since president trump took office and the unemployment rate has remained steady this past month at 4.2%. however, millions of americans are still underemployed or have stopped looking for work altogether. we need to make sure that americans have access to training programs, especially those that provide on-the-job training. and those focused in high demand jobs, which in west virginia includes important industries like coal mining and health care. i'd like to see the department take innovative approaches to expanding, we've talked about this, apprenticeship opportunities to new programs and fields as a lot of worthy

apprenticeship opportunities don't fit the current registered apprenticeship mold. i'm interested in hearing more about how the make america skilled again grant program will increase flexibility and improve outcomes for workers looking to upscale and advance their careers. i've also been a long-time champion of expanding and strengthening the early childhood education workforce through apprenticeships. giving our educators a clear pathway to successful careers opens the door to higher quality and better coverage of care, but also helping both our families and childcare workers throughout the states. having a highly skilled workforce is critical. but it's only half the equation. we must also continue to have commonsense solutions to create an economic environment where businesses can thrive and create those good, well-paying jobs. i've been pleased to see this administration take steps to rein in an unnecessary regulatory burden that make it harder for businesses to create jobs. earlier this month, the department of labor announced it will no longer enforce the biden

administration's independent contract rule. which jeopardized the ability of as many as 70 million freelancers, ride share drivers and other independent workers to earn a living in a way that best fits their needs and schedules. this rule would take away the freedom for west virginia real estate agents, truck drivers, freelance writers and other self-employed workers to choose their own hours and work around other priorities like going back to school or raising their children. i hope to see this administration continue to remove bureaucratic red tape to allow companies to expand their workforce, grow their businesses and show their employees how much they're valued in a growing economy. however, to be clear, not all regulations are bad. it is important to have appropriate protections to place -- to keep hardworking americans, including our miners safe. west virginia is the second largest producer of coal in this country. for generations coal miners in west virginia have helped keep the lights on across the country.

we built the country. but doing so has sometimes come at a great price. in the last couple decades, west virginia has experienced major mining tragedies a at the upper big branch mind and sego mind which claimed 29 and 12 lives. i hope to hear more about the administration's plan to ensure that their workplaces are safe and that our workers are able to return home to their loved ones at the end of the day. secretary chavez-deremer, as the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process moves forward, i know we'll continue to work together to address priorities and find common ground on how to best responsibly allocate our taxpayers' resources. thank you again for being here today and i'll now turn it over to ranking member, senator baldwin. senator baldwin:thank you. we're here today to talk about the trump administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request for the department of labor.

what the administration has chosen to highlight in that one page is an establishment of a make america skilled again block grant. a central element of that is cutting funding for the department's workforce development programs by roughly half. this is a theme of this administration. slash programs that congress created on a bipartisan basis for americans, put a slogan on it, and say without any evidence great things will happen. this administration talks loudly about supporting and protecting american workers, but its actions are telling a very different story. its chaotic tariff policies will mean fewer high-skilled jobs while increasing costs for workers.

these cuts in this budget request would mean fewer opportunities for workers to gain the skills they need for good and high-paying jobs. the budget request for a new make america skilled again program argues that it will promote the full range of postsecondary education and training options. secretary chavez-deremer, if that were really the goal, i would be right there with you. i have long fought to boost trade schools, career and technical education, apprenticeships and any proven pathway that gives people opportunities and a chance to succeed. but the real goal here is not that. the goal is cutting bipartisan programs that help my constituents get the skills they need to make room for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, another theme of this administration. madam secretary, when we met a

couple months ago, there was more that we agreed on than we disagreed on. for example, we talked about the importance of registered apprenticeships. i have been proud to support efforts to expand them in wisconsin. in our state, employers train 10,000 registered apprentices in 200 different occupations every year. but you're proposing cutting funds for states and local workforce training programs which support apprenticeships. those cuts would be nearly 1/3. you're proposing to totally eliminate the job corps program. in my state, it's a program that gives so many students vital training and opportunities. and you have terminated already appropriated funding to increase and support apprenticeships in fields newer to the apprenticeship model like teaching. it just doesn't add up.

between what you have already done and what you're proposing in your fiscal year 2026 budget, this will leave wisconsinites with fewer opportunities to find that pathway to a good paying job and a stable life. and that's what we know from the very few details that have been provided so far. i'm worried about what other supports you might want to take away from workers when that full and detailed budget request comes out. i'm concerned that what i have seen at the department over the last four months doesn't bear any resemblance to our conversation prior to your confirmation. that's because this administration is being led by o.m.b., elon musk, doge who are exerting unprecedented control over executive branch agencies. and crossing the line of separation of powers.

terminating hundreds of millions of dollars in grants that our laws require the department to award and characterizing them as america-last programs reveals a different priority. that funding helps prevent labor exploitation abroad, which supports american workers here at home. as long as big multinational corporations can turn a blind eye toward labor abuses down their supply chains and get the green light to move operations to the lowest-cost countries that don't respect workers' rights, american workers will pay the price. madam secretary, it's your job to make sure they compete on a level playing field. where we will win.

here at home the department has also been busy eliminating grants supporting women in the workforce. we've seen the chainsaw at work in eliminating grants to fight gender-based violence and harassment, and support women in apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations. this effort, these grants, are not optional. they are in law. on a bipartisan basis. democrats and republicans put into law that your department invest in programs and issue grants that reduce barriers to work for women. you must be familiar with shortages of trained workers and i am sorry to see that you're turning your back on support that opens doors for women, to address these workforce needs. finally, as a former member of congress, you understand better than most the importance of

transparency. and the administration being responsive to congress. what we have seen so far is simply not acceptable. when you're pressed for information about the department's workforce reduction during last week's house appropriations hearing, you provided all sorts of excuses why you couldn't respond, including that you didn't have final figures. i wrote you two months ago and asked similar questions about workforce reductions through the most recent pay period. and you failed to provide the requested information. you're the head of this agency. the buck stops with you and you're responsible for answering these questions. this is basic information, this committee and congress need to perform our constitutional duty. this is basic information wisconsinites and americans deserve. because it's their tax dollars. you should also fundamentally understand our deep concern that

it appears this administration is planning to ignore the law and illegally impound funds congress appropriated. your department was created to ensure that workers have safe workplaces, receive the pay they have earned, and have access to the high-quality training they need to prepare them for in-demand jobs. that doesn't happen by saying you're putting workers first. but by acting to put them first. it's not too late to change course and america's workers deserve nothing less. thank you, chair capito. sen. capito: thank you, senator baldwin. now i would like to welcome our witness again. the secretary of labor, the 30th secretary of labor. she was confirmed in a bipartisan way on the senate floor of 67-32. that's quite a feat in this environment, i will say.

and madam secretary, welcome your remarks for five minutes. sec. chavez-deremer: thank you, chairman capito, ranking member baldwin, and members of the subcommittee. thank you for the invitation to testify today. it's an honor to appear before the subcommittee to share the important work this administration is doing at the department of labor and discuss the president's fiscal year 2026 budget request. it's a privilege to serve as the 30th secretary of labor and lead the department's efforts on behalf of president trump and the american workforce. my role as secretary is to ensure the american worker is at the center of our economic strategy. the middle class, union workers and small businesses have given us a clear mandate. it is my job to guarantee those men and women are not just heard, but respected and prioritized at every level of government. from the moment i was sworn in on march 11, i promised to put american workers first.

and that mission has guided my work from the very beginning. through commonsense reforms, we will focus the department of labor on that same purpose. saving taxpayers resources while safeguarding protections that are critical to the health and well-being of our workforce, like enforcement efforts, inspectors and investigators. additionally, i'm committed to having an open-door policy for every worker. as their liaison and advocate, i am committed to painting an accurate picture of labor's needs and concerns to the president. i launched my listening tour, america at work, to hear directly from the men and women on the ground who are living this day in and day out. the real-life insights and experiences are imperative to shaping federal labor policies and practices. i told my team when i began this tour that i want to visit all 50 states, to better understand regional workforce needs and we're making good headway.

i've held my meetings with local leaders to learn more ways that the federal government can help develop a skilled workforce, improve infrastructure to attract bills and investment, -- business and investment, prioritize workers and identify smart regulations that expand economic opportunity and drive job growth. from a training facility demonstration with the international brotherhood of electrical workers in pennsylvania, to a day spent with students learning to become aviation mechanics in nevada, i am experiencing and relaying these challenges and triumphs of america at work. we have a responsibility to turn these stories into actions through smart reforms and federal solutions that deliver those results. this worker-centric approach is part of the broader economic momentum president trump is driving. with nearly $10 trillion in private investment so far, americans are seeing great progress in the growth of our jobs, our economy and our competitive edge. to further stimulate economic

growth, the trump administration is overhauling the waste, fraud and abuse that has characterized the federal government's use of tax dollars for decades. the department of labor is eliminating unnecessary red tape that stifles innovation. we are on track to restore freedom and purchasing power to hardworking men and women. for example, the labor department recently uncovered $4.4 billion of unspent and unusable covid funding and is actively working to return that money to the treasury in its entirety. when americans' hard-earned tax dollars aren't wasted, more of their paychecks can go toward things that actually matter. putting food on the table, gas in the cars, and providing stability for our families. workers are the cornerstone of our economic comeback. and that's exactly why america-first policies matter. i stand by ready to equip, train and support our workforce so that they can thrive in the

ever-changing job market. consistent with these efforts, the president's fiscal year 2026 budget gives states and localities flexibility to spend workforce dollars in a way that makes the most sense for them. by consolidating siloed federal training programs into a single make america skilled again grant, states will be able to spend more time and money delivering high-quality training for their workers and less time complying with burdensome federal regulations. pursuant to two critical executive orders, my department is hard at work to collaborate with the departments of commerce and education to unlock the potential of the american worker. we are looking to strengthen rebellingsterred apprenticeship -- registered apprenticeships and invest in opportunities that upskill workers to meet current labor market demands. i'm confident that by revitalizing our workforce and preparing workers for their jobs of tomorrow, we are breathing life into the american dream. i believe as you all do that we

must work together to foster an economy that ensures every american can thrive. with good pay, safe working conditions and that secure retirement. it is my honor to work on behalf of president trump as we bring jobs back to the united states and put the american worker first again. i look forward to working with congress each and every day on these important goals and i look forward to our discussion here today. thank you. sen. capito: thank you. i'd like to next welcome the chair of the full appropriations committee who is with us here today, she needs no introduction at all. she's committed to leading this committee in a more functioning manner and hopefully on the floor with our appropriations bill. so welcome, senator collins. mr. collins: thank you very much -- mr. collins: collins thank you very much --

sen. collins: thank you very much. two job source centers was abruptly halted. the job centers serve nearly 500 students in maine each year and have become important pillars of support for some of our most vulnerable teenagers. it also has 129 staff members and is one of the largest employers in rural north maine. then the administration submitted a budget request that proposes to eliminate job corps altogether. this will deprive thousands, tens of thousands of job corps students across the country of

the opportunity to pursue higher education or enter the workforce or join the military. it's clear that job corps, while not perfect, works. and i want to tell you the personal story of a young woman, and i put up her pictures so that you can see her. i first met idez torres in 2008 when she was a job corps student in northern maine. she was originally from connecticut. she was experiencing homelessness. she was in a very difficult, dangerous situation and she recognized that she needed to change her life. she learned about job corps largely by chance and i asked

her, how did you choose the job corps center in north maine? she said, i needed to get as far away in the northeast from the terrible environment in which i was living that i possibly could. well, the story has a very happy ending. in 2019 i was the commencement speaker at hudson university in bangor and who comes up to me but idez. she has earned with honors her nursing degree. she went on to get her nurse practitioner degree. she totally turned around her life and that is the second picture that i'm showing you. and you'll notice that she is

holding in her hands the pictures that we took when the job corps students came in 2008 to see me here in washington. job corps literally saved her life. and she has been in the medical field ever since. it was job corps that made this possible. so i for the life of me do not understand why the administration wants to eliminate this valuable program. and i know, we've had a discussion on the cost, it is so much more expensive if someone, because of the influence and lack of support, ends up addicted or sex trafficked or in

jail than it is to have them go to a job corps center and receive the guidance and skills that they need to turn around their lives. and i wanted to make this real to you by showing you the two pictures and the change in this young woman's life. so in making these decisions, did you consider the potential impact that halting enrollment at the two centers in maine, which you did only in the state of maine, and also proposing the elimination of the program on people like idez whose life was changed and i would argue saved by job corps? sec. chavez-deremer: thank you, chairman. i appreciate this. first and foremost, i want to say at the front end, we agree

that this population is somebody we all care about. that is not the essence of what we're here talk to about but we do have to discuss the sustainability of job corps. i was a job corps champion in congress as well. i fought for all of these kids alongside of you. i understand how important they are to not only our respective states, but to our countries as well. we issued at the department of labor, and i know we've had this conversation and i know it will be ongoing with your office and many others because it's essential that we address the population of 16 to 24 who we are -- these are really essentially pre-apprenticeship programs that we know they need the skills and training for their entire lives, as you said, can you many more things than just upskilling. but we do have to look at it from a perspective, is it sustainable over time? we've released the department of labor a public transparency report that has never been done before and never exposed the

cost for each and every state and i know that i've shared with many of you the respective costs. i will continue to look at this but the transparency report shines a light of the serious flaws of this program. so here's what i would say. can we imagine together what it's like to continue to focus on this population throughout the country and do it better, more responsibly, and protect the american taxpayer? because on the outcome we want those tax dollars to be spent in a responsible way and still have the measured outcome that serves this young woman and many others. that's what i'm focused on doing and i am committed to each and every one of you to work through that process and what that looks like. no final decision has been made but we are reviewing every job corps facility and i understand the president's budget is signaling that this is not something that's sustainable over time. it's a $1.7 billion program with

a 3% graduation rate -- 38% graduation rate when the cost of $50,000 pursuant to and to get out about $156,000. we are in the hole now. i would have to come to the appropriations committee and ask for more money to just get us back to baseline, to have a graduation rate of 32%. so can we do better? i think we can. and i'm committed to working with all of you because this population of people is important to me just like it is to you. if you'll allow me to continue that conversation with you along the way, i promise you, we won't forget this population. we want them trained, upskilled, reskilled and have a job that changes their lives for the future of this country as well. sen. collins: thank you, madam chair. sen. capito: senator baldwin. sen. baldwin: thank you, madam chair. thank you again for being here, madam secretary. i have a few questions to start with the.

which hopefully we can get through very quickly. but regarding communication and transparaphernalia. so first, thank you for submitting a timely spending plan as required by the fiscal year 2025 full-year continuing resolution. but what you submithood some notations, footnotes that there are ongoing reviews of certain funding allocations. so will you commit to having your staff provide periodic updates to the appropriations committee staff on that review and the department's implementation of the appropriations law? sec. chavez-deremer: yes. sen. baldwin: second, will you please commit to me that your staff will notify committee staff of any programmatic delays the department experiences in spending any of the appropriated funds, again, if is cal year 2025? -- again, fiscal year 2025? sec. chavez-deremer: my goal is to always have open conversations with the appropriations committee.

sen. baldwin: finally, will you provide me with workforce reductions including accounts of the number of staff accepting deferred resignations for each of the department's offices through the most recent pay period? sec. chavez-deremer: yeah, thank you. if i might elaborate just a tad on that. you mentioned the house appropriations committee, congressman steny hoyer asked me that exact question. i did not have that information at that point. so we're still in that 45-day window. approximately 2700 employees have opted to take that d.r.p. i reported that out also to congressman hoyer as well. so just as an f.y. i. and also for our inspectors and our investigators, i think is key to the department of labor, the essential workers through osha, msha and wage and hour division, we have exempted from taking that program because they are essential to the department of labor for the enforcement. sen. baldwin: ok. and, you know, i want to just

comment on the deferred resignation program because, you know, this administration's been crystal clear that it wants to significantly reduce the federal workforce and the president's executive order 14210 says agency heads shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force. and information provided to federal employees about the deferred resignation program indicated that the federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes, as a result of these changes or for other reasons you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan your future. this is really doing everything in my mind to tell employees to leave because if they don't, they're probably going to get fired. but anyway. i'm concerned that this

administration is paying lip service to protecting and supporting american workers. but then taking actions that harm them. we see the chaotic approach to tariffs impacting small businesses and larger employers who have had their supply chains disrupted and their workers paying the price with reduced work hours and price hikes to come. the department has pushed out approximately 20% of its staff who are now being paid not to work. which will seriously undermine the department's ability to fulfill its mission to support american workers. this includes forcing out about 25% of the staff at the employee benefits secure administration that we call, he was bsa, responsible for protecting the -- ebsa, responsible for protecting the benefits of american workers and retirees. so prior to implementing these staffing reductions, did you do an evaluation of the impact that it would have on ebsa being able

to do its job to protect americans' benefits if 25% fewer people were working there? sec. chavez-deremer: at the department of labor our goal is to fulfill the mission of every agency and that is protecting workers' rights. that's an essential part of the core mission. i can tell you, there are oftentimes what's important to me as the agency head is to make sure that spending more money doesn't necessarily get us the outcomes that we need. i can tell you the tariff conversation -- sen. baldwin: you have done an evaluation of what the impact would be on protecting workers' benefits by cutting that division by 25%? sec. chavez-deremer: we will always protect the american workers. it's essential to the department of labor. sen. baldwin: so you did an evaluation prior to pushing out 25% of those workers? sec. chavez-deremer: as i came into office, i had committed to this committee and every other committee in the full committee to do every evaluation and every agency so i can pull back the curtain and understand exactly what i am leading.

sen. baldwin: i would appreciate you sharing that evaluation and analysis with the committee. and i will submit some further questions for the record because i have quite a few others. thank you. sen. capito: thank you. madam secretary, we've talked about this issue but it's about the west virginia department of transportation. and the davis-bacon wage determinations for highway construction. they're just unworkable. when the biden administration published these wage determinations, west virginia d.o.t. was not given any prior notice of the proposed changes and therefore was unable to provide feedback and comments to d.o.l. before publication. the biden wage determinations left out key job classifications that are commonly used on highway projects. it's been very frustrating. the absence of these classifications has required west virginia d.o.t. to go through a complicated administrative process with d.o.l. to determine proper wages. you know, we're missing the construction season here as part of what i'm doing. or getting to this. has been significant delays in

advertising, but also awarding construction projects. i know that your staff has been working on this with our west virginia d.o.t. and with me in my office to make sure that our highways are safe and durable and drivable. so will you commit to continuing working with me to resolve this issue to ensure that west virginia's highway construction projects can begin without undue burden? sec. chavez-deremer: yeah, absolutely. i know my staff has been in touch with your staff and west virginia d.o.t. to try to resolve these specific issues. i'm committed to working with the wage and hour to ensure that prevailing wages are being calculated and applied appropriately. sen. capito: thank you. that's a timely request. let's talk about msha. i mentioned it in my opening statements. obviously it's important to a state like west virginia, the health and safety of our nation's miners. i'm concerned because i'm hearing from my constituents that msha offices in west virginia are closing. i'm worried that will reduce the

number of mine inspections, which are essential to ensuring that coal that powers our nation is mined safely and that workers return home to their families. west virginians know far too well the importance of keeping our miners safe on the job, having endured the tragedies that i mentioned earlier. can you elaborate on msha's plan for office closures in west virginia and i'm going to name the three that we had heard line the that were going to be closed. summersville, mount hope and in welch. sec. chavez-deremer: thank you again. there's no worker, including our miners, which i know are very important to you in west virginia, that should be concerned about not returning home safe. my goal as the agency head is to make sure that every worker is protected. as far as it relates to the msha offices, we're working with g.s.a. that is under g.s.a.'s purview. i'm working with them and advocating for those leases to stay open throughout. i don't have the exact number for you. but it's a critical mission to keep for our inspectors and our investigators to be there, to

make sure that they're assisting, to make sure those miners are safe and i will give that you updated list. but it is to keep those offices open and retain those leases but we're working on those now. sen. capito: much appreciated. i would say that close proximity, it's tough to get from one place to the other in case of an emergency, it can really create a lot of lag time if we don't have msha there and with our companies and our workers to be able to not just be protected but to react in case of an emergency. so -- sec. chavez-deremer: absolutely. sen. capito: please keep that front and center. let me ask you this question. what is it, make america skilled again? sec. chavez-deremer: that's right. sen. capito: ok. when you say that you've folded -- i think i'm hearing that you folded workforce programs into one big bucket, is that how you're -- how many different programs do we have in workforce development? sec. chavez-deremer: there are several and the goal is to work with our state partners. i can tell you, as i tour around

-- see all 50 states and visit with the american worker and visit with our community colleges, our career and technical education schools, the flexibility and modernization of getting that workforce investment is going to be key. i look forward to working with congress on making sure that wioa have the information they need to get through congress. it's going to be key for workforce investment. so it's the flexibility of doing so with our respective states. so, yes, make america skilled again through essentially a block grant for the flexibility in order for them to have access. that's going to be key for those local communities. sen. capito: ok. in my mind, what has worked in some instances in west virginia has been a public-private partnership. sec. chavez-deremer: absolutely. kop. sen. capito: with workforce programs where students who are maybe junior, senior, maybe they're in a career in technical

or in regular high school, they're unsure which direction they want to go. i'll use toyota as an example. they work with the local community college to do a blended work-study kind of program. that at the end really can result in a full-time job, a life job with a great company, toyota. and so i would -- i'm sure you're doing this, but there's a lot of companies come to us and say, we can't find the workforce, we can't do this. and the money spent up front with younger students so they can be exposed to different kinds of careers and also through a work-study kind of a program that really shows them the benefit of working, the benefit of making, the benefit of learning, the benefit of being able to move up, i mean, we have to have the private sector right there with us with the department. sec. chavez-deremer: i couldn't agree with you more. the sponsorship so to speak of these companies. i visited that in arizona, the exact same model.

and we're seeing best practices across the country from a lot of our businesses, working with our local education systems to do just that. it's finally that connection between what is the market demand, how can we train them specifically in their respective states, and have the outcome for the companies who are asking us for a, b and c of the type of workers they need. how we connect those dots is essential for me. that's the key to my america at work tour, to visit all 50 states and understand what the market demand is and how we connect those dots and that is going to come through make america skilled again grants. sen. reed: thank you. welcome, madam secretary. sec. chavez-deremer: thank you. sen. reed: thank you for the thoughtful call this week. i appreciate it very much. like senator collins, i am troubled by the proposed elimination of the job corps. she said very passionately and i support her 120%.

as i discussed with you over the phone, we have a job corps certainty in exeter, rhode island, and it's not only critical to these young men and women to develop their talents and be productive members of our society, but also it's a key aspect of our submarine production, with their relationships to rhode island. if we don't have these trained and skilled workers, we'll fall behind further and further in terms of submarine production, which will be detrimental is an understatement to our national security. again, i think it's something that we have to seriously reconsider, this reduction. what i've heard already is that you ceased background checks on new students. so they cannot enroll new students going forward at this point. sec. chavez-deremer: yeah, there's a pause. sen. reed: so that is really preventing young people from

qualifying to go and start the next year of school. sec. chavez-deremer: as we continue to review, there is a pause because, again, the transparency report, what we're seeing in costs, no final decision has been made and that's why i'm so committed to working with each and every one of you and understanding that and i know through our conversation on the phone, senator, in your respective state, how important this was for you and i think we talked a little bit about the numbers. you have the one job corps center, exeter, that you mentioned, that's specific and intentional in working with the companies. while there's a difference in certain job corps sent, i know that the -- centers, i know that the cost per enrollee there is $65,000 and cost per graduate is about $191,000. what we also know, the overall graduation rate's about 38%. so, again, most of the job corps graduates, if they come out, are making just under $17,000 a year. so my goal is to not forget this

population and work with you all on how we transition preapprenticeship. the president's executive order on one million apprentices throughout the country is going to be a directive to me and the department of labor to make sure that we are addressing that across the board. sen. reed: let's go to that transparency report you refer to consistently. all these numbers are based upon data from really the heart of the covid epidemic. which because of covid, 34% enrollment -- enrollment was at 34%. enrollment is at 75% today. the cost pursuant to would go down if you ran the numbers today. dramatically. so the argument that this is just a waste and too expensive is a direct result, a calculated result of picking the most favorable point you could to reinforce an argument i would

expect the administration had before you got there which is, let's get rid of this program and find numbers to justify it. sec. chavez-deremer: that's not a true statement. sen. reed: what year is -- are these numbers coming from? sec. chavez-deremer: they are precovid but the same amount of dollars were spent. despite how many enrollees were there. it's more than just the one-legged part of the stool of the cost. the transparency report also let us understand that there are other flaws in the program and through that transparency report, we saw that there are many of these students who were in harm's way. whether through rape, murder, incident reports that have come out. so i have to look at the whole picture. but i can tell you this. i want to care about the apprenticeship side of this. so it's not a forgotten on this population. i will work with you specifically in your state to address those students. sen. reed: let's look at the transparency report another way. it appears to count students, for example, going to military service or further education as having zero earnings.

as a result you can make the argument that after all this money is spent, these young people don't get jobs whoart while, etc. there is a calculated -- not transparent but deceptive report, in my view. so i would hope you would recognize that and review it. the other aspect i think we have to demonstrate is the block grant approach to training. i've been serving here for a while. block grant is a deliberate approach that's been taken by many administrations to gradually end programs. because all you do is the next year, if inflation is 3%, the block grant goes up 1%. and after about five or so years, states begin to say, we're not getting enough money to do this, why should we put our money in? further complicating the block grant approach is that if you

look at the salary of the trump budget, the question in states, your state, west virginia, how are we going to make up the cuts to medicaid that will basically undermine our entire health care system? how are we going to make up the cuts to elementary and secondary education? for example, in my state of rhode island, $34 million from medicaid goes into taking care of young students there. the states say, we can't afford that anymore, etc. what you're going to see in reality is that this block grant will rapidly deteriorate to nothing and, two, states will not have the ability, because given the choice of saving a health care system or saving a school system, i would suspect they would choose that over some of this training. so again, this approach seems to me to be entirely unsubstantiated by real analysis

and something that's going to cause more problems and it's not going to deliver training to young people. the other thing is -- no. clever remarks are the downfall of people. thank you. sec. chavez-deremer: thank you, senator. sen. capito: thank you. we're awaiting -- we're in the middle of a vote so i'm going to take license here to ask another question. as you look across the whole labor statistics and jobs of the future, where are the biggest shortages that you're hearing at the department of labor that you can project over to the next five to 10 years? sec. chavez-deremer: well, as we do the full analysis, we're seeing the manufacturing jobs come back. as i visit with companies and businesses throughout the country on this tour, and even previous to that in congress, you know, as you know, we meet

with many corporations and businesses and the american worker as well as a former mayor, understanding what's on the ground. so we're seeing the manufacturing jobs, construction jobs come back to the united states. it's that, you know, missing kek right out of -- missing connection right out of college into these company. also what we're seeing is a.i. we're seeing that as welcome forward and how we're going to direct the future and the modernization and assist the american worker with artificial intelligence and that's another executive order from the president is to train these american workers to that degree as they're needed. if we're talking about workforce development in agriculture as well, the precision agriculture, what we're seeing is incredible on the ground. so there's a lot of sectors, we're seeing those job numbers come back. 228,000 jobs the month before.

i'm looking forwarder to that to -- forward for that to grow. sen. capito: i would put health care on the list. senator murphy. sec. chavez-deremer: those numbers went up as well, senator. sen. capito: you hear it everywhere. i'm sure you hear it in your state. sec. chavez-deremer: but they're coming back. sen. murphy: thank you very much for being here. when we had a chance to talk during your confirmation hearing, i raised a worry that i think reflects what many americans are talking about today. the access that a handful of very powerful people have to the president, to the white house, and to this administration. it feels like, you know, if you're powerful, if you have connections to the president, you can get some special deals. and in particular a lot of folks in this country have been very concerned about what elon musk's agenda has been.

what is he getting? and it seems over and over again that the cuts that are happening throughout the government are specifically advantaging elon musk and his companies. and so i want to ask you about an office that is essentially been eliminated under your watch and ask you to explain to us what the story is here. the office of federal contract compliance programs is a really important office that has been supported by republican and democratic presidents. in fact, president trump during his first term talked pretty glowingly about the success it had had in cracking down on the abuse of workers. in particular, discrimination against workers. you have effectively eliminated this office. you've reduced its employee count from 480 to 50. that's a 09% reduction -- 90% reduction. there were 55 offices protecting workers all across the country. there are now four.

the office in hartford, connecticut, has been closed. all of this is likely illegal because we have appropriated money for this agency and its functions. you are not allowed to just eliminate appropriations that have been mandated by congress. but of course it's had a really impact on workers. workers no longer have this agency representing them. and in particular this seems like it worked out very well for elon musk. because there was an open investigation against one of his facilities. in fremont. and i can't even actually say out loud the words connected to this allegation because black employees at this tesla facility were allegedly subject toru teen racial -- to routine racial abuse, stereotyping and hostility. the epithets range from the n

word to monkey to boy to other insults i can't say in this committee. and there was an open investigation relative to the abuse of black employees at this facility. that investigation is now closed. that seems like a really convenient win for elon musk. and so tell us what's going on here. how do you justify the cloture of an agency that was supporting workers, protecting workers, and i'd love to know if you had had any conversations with elon musk or his representatives who were in your agency on behalf of doge relative to the cloture of this specific agency? sec. chavez-deremer: thank you, senator. first and foremost, our nation's nondiscrimination laws are --

continue to be fully enforced at the department of labor and anywhere else. on top of that, as you know, i will not be able to discuss this because it is under litigation now. so i cannot go into any other comments in regards to that and that would be true for many things that the department of labor's being sued for, i cannot discuss. sen. murphy: well, you can certainly discuss with this committee why you eliminated the agency. i mean, this is a legitimate matter for the appropriations committee. you can tell us why you eliminated the agency and you can certainly answer questions as to whether you had any conversations with elon musk about the elimination of this agency, which was actively investigating one of his facilities. sec. chavez-deremer: i cannot discuss it as it's in litigation but i've had elon musk gets no special treatment from the department of labor or from me. sen. murphy: is it true that that investigation into his facility, again, these are really outrageous allegations --

sec. chavez-deremer: i have no reference to even that case. no conversation. sen. murphy: but you can confirm that it was closed. sec. chavez-deremer: i don't even know about that specific case. i would not be able to comment on that. sen. murphy: can you answer that question to the committee, can you answer that for the record? i mean, if you don't know now, can you get the answer to that as to whether that specific investigation -- sec. chavez-deremer: as it relates to -- sen. murphy: tesla facility was closed. sec. chavez-deremer: i cannot comment because it is in litigation. i know nothing about that case. sen. murphy: you can certainly tell this committee when investigations are open or closed. sec. chavez-deremer: i'll consult with my team and my legal team and get back to you on that. sen. murphy: madam chair, there is a lot of litigation pending. but that should not shut down the oversight role of this committee, to get information as to why key oversight agencies

have been closed or information regarding open investigations. so i look forward to working with the chairman and the ranking member and you to make sure that litigation doesn't get used as an excuse to try to paper over what may be some pretty substantial problems and potentially undue influence by trump's billionaire friends at the department of labor. sec. chavez-deremer: that is not the case. nondiscrimination laws are fully enforced 100% of the department of labor and will continue to be and i look forward to working with you as well, senator. sen. murphy: thank you. thank you, madam chair. . >> thank you for being here today. i represent mississippi. and our state is experiencing strong economic momentum with record breaking capital investment and job creation. sen. hyde-smith: our our labor force participation rates remains one of the lowest in the nation. we face challenges such as being predominantly rural, high poverty rates and several other

barriers as well. this complicates reliable data collection, especially when it's not sourced from trusted state-level partners. we've also seen growing concerns with studies from the bureau of labor statistics, particularly as surveys response rates do continue to decline. do you believe states should play a larger role in collecting labor market data to ensure more accurate information to support policymaking to help out-of-work americans get jobs? sec. chavez-deremer: well, thank you for the question. it's so nice to have visited with you and thank you for being here today. the bureau of labor statistics is independent of the department of labor and will continue to be. that's an important, again, -- the data is important. but it is independent of the department of labor. and i can't put my thumb on the scale for the collection of the bureau of labor statistics. sen. hyde-smith: whether the

state would do a more accurate job? i understand that. one of the things that we're concerned about is human trafficking. sec. chavez-deremer: absolutely. sen. hyde-smith: and of course it's just an unspeakable atrocity. this continues to plague our nation at deeply alarming rates. labor trafficking, a form of exploitation that forces individuals to work through coercion, fraud or by force, it's particularly troubling among this crisis. the happening in every state and it's something we must confront head-on. can you elaborate on the department's approach to combating labor exploitation and human trafficking, especially as it pertains to your collaboration with law enforcement? sec. chavez-deremer: yeah, thank you again for that. combating, you know, the exploitation of any child should be not tolerated by anyone, any company, any business, anyone in

the federal government. so that is a number one goal for the department of labor is to combat child labor, child trafficking, human trafficking. and so working with our law enforcement teams, you know, is essential to combating that. but at the department of labor, our goal is to fully enforce the law and make sure that we are using the full enforcement capability of the department of labor to crack down. if someone is knowingly breaking that law. and we will double down to do that. sen. hyde-smith: and how are staff at the department being provided with training and support to enhance the identification of potential trafficking situations? what's your training program like? sec. chavez-deremer: it's essential through the department of labor to make sure that we have the highest skilled employees to make sure that we can work with our state partners and our businesses throughout the country so that we can identify where that is happening and we can have that enforcement agency make sure that we're reaching out and through the inspector general's office, as well as our enforcement offices

to go in and be able to understand what the possibility or the alleged, you know, if it's child labor, if it's child trafficking, that we can get the full picture in order to -- that they understand that we have to have that in the full enforcement of the law. sen. hyde-smith: so you're comfortable with the training practices you have in place now? sec. chavez-deremer: it's essential that we make sure that that is -- the enphonement -- enforcement capabilities are unique to this agency, that we have the full enforcement through our inspector generals and -- inspectors general and our agents on the ground. sen. hyde-smith: is there anything this committee can do to assist you or your agency in that? sec. chavez-deremer: i'd like to have a more comprehensive conversation, maybe specifics in your respective states, about what you need from the department of labor and work together. sen. hyde-smith: great. thank you very much. also with senator collins i'm kerpd about the job corps center

locations in mississippi closing. hopefully we'll have something to replace that. it is a great concern. they are all over the state. gulfport, crystal springs is close to me. it is very valuable to mississippi. i would like to just associate my -- myself with senator collins' comments. now we go to senator brit. sen. britt: thank you so much, matam chair, and bringing up those important issues. i think we are all seeing that in our states. i look forward to working with you to make sure that we get these things right. madam secretary, you have hit the ground running at the department of labor. you just kicked off your america works tour. america at work. tell me about that. you have been listening, learning, coast to coast, we certainly want to have you in alabama. aid love to know what are you hearing from -- i'd love to know what are you hearing from people across the country? what are the greatest concerns and what things you feel like

need to be taking action on in. sec. chavez-deremer: the topic is the workforce when i'm on the ground. how we are going to grow this economy. the president has a mandate that growing the american economy is key. giving more power to the people. keeping more money in their pockets. connecting the dots of the workforce to what the market demand is. on the ground the questions that i ask what i'm visiting with these american workers is what are the barriers, how can we assist you, what's the workforce training, what gets in the way you designing to join the labor force? those answers can be vast. obviously it can be families. it can be childcare. it can be funding to get the skills that they need. my job is to fill in those gaps. how can i assist in doing those? some of the things that we are hearing not only from the companies, we want more works, men and women, to join the labor force, we want that participation rate to go up. it's been holding steady. we want it to go up. sen. britt: that's one of the things we talk about in our

state. how do we increase our labor participation rate. touched on a number of things. i think my colleagues have asked questions about apresent tisships. i want to hone in on one thing you haven't discussed today you brought up and that's childcare. whether i'm at the top of the state or bottom of the state or whether i'm at my largest manufacturer or a small business on main street, they say workforce is an issue. they continue either lose people because of reliability or affordability of childcare, and/or it is more challenging to recruit. when we started digging in on this, we saw that about 59% of stay-at-home or nonworking or part-time working parents say they want to re-engage in the workforce but that affordability or accessibility of childcare is an impediment to that. if you want and have is the opportunity to stay home, i abyou sleuthly want that for you. if you want to re-engage in the workforce and help with president trump's vision of building back america, then i

want to make sure that we remove those impediments. a question for you, and certainly don't want to ask you to comment on any specifics, but you can say definitivelying this something you hear from works -- definitively this is something you hear from workers large and small and employers. sec. chavez-deremer: in congress i heard it as well. i did a listening tour in congress through agriculture. that's not a place i would have is thought i heard childcare. sen. britt: what we have seen between the ages of 0 den 5 a parent spends about 22% of their income on childcare. when you look at our economy across the board, it's $122 billion a year we lose to this reliability issue. i have a specific piece of legislation, a bipartisan piece of legislation, the childcare affordability -- availability and affordability thact really puts parents back in the driver's seat and encourages businesses, both large and small, to be a part of the solution. i think it's critically

important that we empower parents. we empower hardworking americans. we help create a path for their american dream and for prosperity. not asking you to comment on the specifics of my legislation, but knowing that we could be doing more to help these hardworking parents i think you would say that's something that you agree with. sec. chavez-deremer: absolutely. whatever technical assistance i can give to any member of congress as they move their own legislation through, i'm glad to do it and give you that data you might need to work with your -- sen. britt: we love to continue to work with you as we build momentum. we have been building it in a bipartisan way. this is something americans deserve better from us and we are trying to produce that. last year i actually asked the federal reserve chair about these commonsense reforms i'm talk to you about and said if we were to do this, would this actually help with our labor participation rate? he said absolutely. i'm glad that you agree with that as well.

my last few seconds want to talk a little about apprenticeship programs. i know there has been different information out there and wanted to give you an opportunity to speak to the fact that president trump and obviously the department value these apprenticeship programs. and continue to work to create pathways for them. sec. chavez-deremer: i'll be brief. one million apprentices is what the president is asking in order to tblil the need for -- to fulfill the need for those workers to grow this economy. anywhere between 680,000 to 700,000 apprentices now. we want more in the pipeline. we are working very diligently through the department of labor to have that -- lean into those registered apprenticeships and give the tools necessary for those companies say that's what we want to do. for example, international association of firefighters just launched their first apprenticeship program because we know we need our firefighters throughout the country. so again i think we have added about 83 apprentices since

january. we are well on our way to that. sen. britt: i look forward to working with you. >> senator baldwin. sen. baldwin: thank you, senator britt just teed up the path i wanted to take on registered apprenticeships. it's obviously a high quality pathway to help workers find jobs that pay good wages. since fiscal year 2016, congress has worked in a bipartisan way to invest in afren tisships -- apprenticeships. i have long been a champion of registered apprenticeships as wisconsin as the -- was the first state in the country to have one. i was particularly excited to see expansion of registered apprenticeships in youth sectors including in education. it can be hard to stand up a new apprenticeship. the federal government has funded intermediaries to help provide technical assist isance to do just that -- assistance to do just that.

and other supports to entities interested in creating or growing registered apprenticeships. it's why -- i said this in my opening comments. i was really disappointed that in the first few months of trump's presidency, we seem to be going backwards on apprenticeship expansion. the administration's canceled several apprenticeship contracts, including contracts that were helping various communities grow their apprenticeship programs. and then the president's fiscal year 2026 skinny budget request came out which seeks to really decimate funding at department of labor, state and local workforce programs by over a third. at the same time, president trump also issued an executive order calling for, as you mentioned, one million new apprentices in our nation. those actions seem to be at odds with one another.

madam secretary, will cutting funding for apprenticeship programs and significantly cutting funding for workforce training programs that support apprenticeship programs, how does that advance the goal of one million new apprentices? sec. chavez-deremer: doing business as it's been done in the past hasn't always produced the best outcomes. i am working very closely with this administration on reaching that goal of one million apprentices. as you just heard me say we added about 83,000. working chairman capito said the same thing, working through the public-private partnerships and assisting our federal and state relationships fostering that i think is what's key here. as a former mayor and on the ground, it was essential to me to understand where our needs were in the education system with our communitile colleges, our current technical education, partnering them with private sector and public sector i think is where the key is.

and making it easy to modernize. i just sat with the department yesterday to talk about the apprenticeship program. and how we can develop a more streamline modern approach to make it easier and more flexible to even work the system in itself. while i think saving money is reconciliation with the -- sen. baldwin: do you why they were terminated? sec. chavez-deremer: the approach is we want to grow the apprenticeship program. that's what we are doing. we are going to continue to do so. and that is being on the ground and understanding what the market demand is. i will do everything in my power to make sure that our workforce investments are key to our respective industries and work with those partners to develop those. sen. baldwin: registered apprenticeship programs are successful because of important standards that ensure apprentices are trained to learn the skills they need in a safe

setting. i want to be clear, to reach the goal of one million new apprentices with more limited resources as in in the skinny budget, weakening the standards of registered apprenticeship programs is not on the table. sec. chavez-deremer: the goal is to enhance, promote, and foster. and grow these apprenticeship programs. we want to protect the american worker. everything i do, every single morning when i walk in the office i think about the american worker first. every decision that is made. we are going to make it better for the american worker. that's what the president is asking me to do. that is why we are bringing so many people to the table. and that's why you are going to see this economy grow for the american worker. i will never get off that point that the american worker comes first. sen. baldwin: thank you again for being mere, madam secretary -- being here, madam secretary. that will end our hearing today. i like to thank my fellow committee members for thoughtful questions, nawlt conversation, and thank you -- thoughtful conversation, and thank you

again, madam secretary. for any senators who wish to ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due one week after the full budget request is released. and the hearing record will also remain opened until then for members who wish to submit additional materials for the record. the subcommittee will now stand in recess. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap.org]

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