Fact Sheet: Trump Administration’s FY26 Budget Request

On May 30, 2025, the Trump administration shared more information on its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) non-defense discretionary funding recommendations.  

Compared to the “skinny budget” issued May 2, this release provides Congress with more details on the president’s priorities and recommended funding allocations, including the programs that would be impacted by steep reductions proposed for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Through plans to eliminate, cutback, or consolidate programs, the president’s budget would make a 34.9% cut to DOL and a 15.3% cut to ED compared to FY25 enacted levels, while targeting resources to key priorities of the Administration. Congress may consider the president’s priorities when drafting and passing appropriations bills, which provide annual funding for the operation of federal government agencies and programs.  

Below is an overview of the president’s budget request and its impact on agencies and programs most relevant to the learn and work ecosystem. 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

• Make America Skilled Again Grant Consolidation: The Trump administration is proposing to combine 11 workforce programs administered by DOL into a single funding stream to states, called Make America Skilled Again (MASA), citing that the current structure of formula and competitive programs, with their “attendant programmatic and performance requirements,” makes it administratively burdensome for states to respond to their workforce needs. The Administration is requesting $2.9 Billion for the MASA grant, a 24% cut to current funding levels with the following workforce programs being eliminated through the proposal: Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth state funds under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Wagner-Peyser Employment Service state grants; Dislocated Worker National Reserve, including use for the Strengthening Community College Training Grants and Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities; YouthBuild; National Farmworker Jobs Program; Indian and Native American Programs; Reentry Employment Opportunities; and Workforce Data Quality Initiative. MASA would require states to dedicate 10% of funds under this consolidation to support registered apprenticeships – a modest increase in spending compared to DOL apprenticeship programs that would be eliminated through the grant consolidation.  

• Elimination of Job Corps, funded currently at $1.76 billion, citing the program as ineffective. 

• Elimination of the Senior Community Service Employment Program, funded currently at $405 million, citing the program as ineffective at moving seniors to unsubsidized employment. 

• Elimination of the Women in Apprenticeship in Non-Traditional Occupations (WANTO) grant authorization and the Women’s Bureau, citing that apprenticeship function will be handled by the Employment and Training Administration.  

• Shifts the Bureau of Labor Statistics to U.S. Department of Commerce, reorganizing federal statistical systems inclusive of the Census Bureau and the Bureau for Economic Analysis under the policy direction of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs.  

• Assumed end-of-the-year expiration of Work Opportunity Tax Credit, due to its authorization ending on December 31, 2025, unless Congress acts. The administration projects a $7.5 million savings in Employment Services National Activities line item. 

• Makes a 15% cut to career navigation information and tools, by shaving $10 million from the Workforce Information-Electronic Tools-System Building line item that funds workforce information grants to states, the ongoing operation and maintenance of the suite of online career tools, and performance reporting systems.    

• Eliminates 200+ full-time positions in Employment and Training Administration, accounting for a cut of $38 million, citing a reduced staffing need for ETA to administer MASA grants. The budget reports that ETA’s full-time equivalent (FTE) positions have shrunk from 664 in FY24 to 634 in FY25 and would decline to 433 in FY26.  

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

• Proposed changes to Pell Grants and Federal Work-Study: 

• • Reduces the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,710-a decrease of $1,685 compared to 2025-2026 award year—citing a concern that the growing Pell shortfall is putting the program in an untenable financial position.  

• • Recommends congressional enactment of Workforce Pell, citing that short-term programs would boost the workforce in a more cost effective and efficient manner.  

• • Cuts Federal Work-Study by 80%, proposing to work with Congress to reform the formula for this program to ensure that funding goes to institutions that serve the most low-income students and to enact a requirement that employers pay 75 percent of a student’s hourly wages with the Federal contribution being reduced to 25 percent. 

• Elimination of several federal education programs that focus on postsecondary access, persistence, and completion:  

• • Eliminates funding for TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) 

• • Eliminates the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the Strengthening Institutions Program, and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program.  

• • Eliminates funding for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG). 

• Level funding for Career and Technical Education state grants, with a modest decrease in national program funding. The budget emphasizes the role of CTE for addressing the workforce needs in the skilled trades, and indicates that the $10.2 million in national activities funds – down from $12.4 million in FY25 – would be used to “support unifying the public workforce system, States’ career and technical education systems, and the Registered Apprenticeship system to meet the need for competency and skill-based education and training.” 

• Elimination of funding for Adult Education State and National Grants (WIOA Title II): The proposed budget eliminates funding for adult education, which supports foundational literacy, numeracy, and digital skills. 

• Consolidation of 18 competitive and formula grant programs into a new $2 billion formula grant to states, called the “K-12 Simplified Funding Program,” while preserving full funding for Title I and special education.  

• Significantly curtails funding for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), citing a need to reimagine IES to “improve support for evidence-based accountability, data-driven decision making, and education research for use in the classroom.” The administration zeros out line-item funding for statewide longitudinal data systems, statistics, research, program administration, among other items—reserving $124 million for statutorily required activities and for critical data collections and studies. This represents an 85% decrease in current spending levels. Separately, the budget would cut line-item funding for the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) by nearly 30%.  

• Eliminates nearly 2,000+ full-time positions, accounting for a cut of $254 million, due to what the administration states would be a decreased need for staff and resources to run consolidated number of programs across ED. Student Aid staffing would be cut roughly in half, from 1,568 to 836 full-time equivalent positions, and overall staffing would decrease from 4,099 to 2,179. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

• Elimination of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which has powered numerous place-based, employer-driven workforce development programs like the Good Jobs Challenge. 

• Severe cuts to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which operates several workforce programs, including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE).  

Other Areas of Interest

• Elimination of all Regional Commissions except for the Appalachian Regional Commission, which would continue to receive level funding. These include the Great Lakes Authority, Delta Regional Authority, Denali Commission, and others.  

• Elimination of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. 

• Elimination of the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Programs, including efforts to expand broadband.  

• Elimination of discretionary funding for the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which targets funding to promote economic growth in economically distressed areas.  

• Consolidation of nearly 40 state and local grant programs at the Department of Justice, which may include assistance to people with records of arrest, conviction, or incarceration.