A federal judge in Manhattan has continued a temporary freeze on the Trump administration’s effort to shutter Job Corps, the nation’s largest job training program for low-income young adults which has two training centers in Maine.
On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter extended until next Wednesday his order temporarily blocking the Department of Labor from going through with the closure. Opponents are seeking a preliminary injunction against the agency’s plans.
The ruling will continue a period of limbo for Maine’s own training centers: Loring Job Corps in Limestone and Penobscot Job Corps in Bangor.
On April 1, the Department of Labor singled out the two facilities for an enrollment pause, citing “sustainability issues due to rising costs.” Eight weeks later, the department issued an order to pause operations at 99 of 121 training centers in the U.S., a precursor to the Trump administration’s intention to close the facilities.
On June 3, the National Job Corps Association filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor in the Southern District of New York. The NJCA is a trade organization that represents every Job Corps training center in the U.S.
It, along with several other plaintiffs in the case, allege that the Department of Labor does not have the power to shut down the program without congressional approval. Job Corps was created as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey joined attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia in calling for a preliminary injunction in an amicus brief filed on June 13.
“Defendants’ efforts to terminate Job Corps without congressional authority represents the latest episode in the Trump Administration’s unlawful campaign to dismantle congressionally mandated and appropriated programs it dislikes,” the brief read. “It is Congress — not the Department of Labor — that has the exclusive power to create (or eliminate) the program.”
Carter issued a temporary restraining order on June 4 that temporarily reopened training centers and prevented termination and non-renewal notices from taking effect. He extended the freeze in his decision on Tuesday for an additional week, noting that the parties must file a joint status report by Friday over redactions made to exhibits presented by the attorneys for the Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor’s initial announcement of the pause had pointed to low graduation rates, high costs per student and high numbers of infractions by students as reasons for the pause order, pulling data from the department’s internal 2025 Job Corps Transparency Report.
The National Job Corps Association disputed these claims, writing in a May 30 news release that each was either false or misleading.
Job Corps serves more than 25,000 students aged 16 to 24 annually and offers training in 10 wide-ranging industries, from health care to homeland security, according to the program’s website. It’s a tuition-free program with nearly 500 current enrollees and 270 employees in Maine.
Most of the students at Loring Job Corps had already gone home by the time Carter issued the temporary restraining order, leaving the center operational, but with a skeleton group of learners.
Those opposed to Job Corps closures fear they will push a number of residential students back into homelessness and exacerbate unemployment.
“The sudden ‘pause’ of operations at Job Corps centers puts young people’s lives at risk,” read a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer signed by 40 U.S. senators, including Maine Sen. Angus King. “Local communities will pay a steep price, especially the thousands of individuals who work at the centers and will lose their livelihoods.”
Senator Susan Collins also spoke out against the move, writing in a late May statement that, “I strongly oppose the Department of Labor’s directive to pause operations at Job Corps centers in Maine and across the country. Serving nearly 500 students in Maine, the Loring Job Corps Center and the Penobscot Job Corps Center have become important pillars of support for some of our most disadvantaged young adults.”
