President Trump sent Congress an outline of his budget request for fiscal year 2026 on May 2. The proposal seeks a cut of nearly 35% for the Labor Department, mostly from workforce training programs. FY 2026 runs from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026.
The proposal seeks $8.6 billion for DOL, a decrease of $4.6 billion (34.9%) from its current funding ($13.3 billion). The outline does not detail requests for DOL sub-agencies like the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs or the Wage and Hour Division. It appears that most proposed cuts would come from worker training programs managed by the Employment and Training Administration. There are no details for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the National Labor Relations Board.
The proposed budget would increase funding for immigration enforcement and reduce funding for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
A new President’s first budget request typically is short on details. We anticipate that within several weeks the White House will send its full budget request to Congress. The spending bills enacted by Congress usually differ significantly from the President’s request.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.