Bobby Scott asks GAO to examine Job Corps reversal

House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) today asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the Trump administration’s abandoned plan to close nine Job Corps Centers.

Although Scott praised the administration’s decision to cancel the closures, he asked GAO to investigate whether the administration followed the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act and whether the initial announcement damaged recruiting and enrollment. Scott also sent a long list of questions to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, at the same time canceling a hearing set for Wednesday.

The administration’s reversal on shuttering the centers came after significant pushback from lawmakers of both parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Nine of the 25 Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers operated by the U.S. Forest Service were slated to be closed starting in September — in states such as Arkansas, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin — and the other 16 were to be transferred to private contractors. About 1,100 federal employees faced layoffs.

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