NEW YORK, N.Y. — One day after a lawsuit was filed contesting the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement May 29 that it is closing 99 Job Corps centers around the country on June 30 — including the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center in Prestonsburg — a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order blocking the move.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. issued the order blocking the shutdowns Wednesday afternoon, preventing the Department of Labor from moving forward with the closings, “from enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to the elimination of the Job Corps program,including the stop work orders and termination and non-renewal notices delivered to Job Corps center operators starting May 29, 2025, from issuing, enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to any shutdown tasks, job terminations or student removals; and from taking any further action to eliminate the Job Corps program without Congressional authorization.”
Carter also ordered the Department to appear in court June 17 to offer any reasons why he should not issue a preliminary injunction extending the ban.
The Labor Department announced last week it intended to close the centersfollowing a report last month finding that the centers have an average graduation rate of 38 percent and spend an average of $155,600.74 for each graduate. The report further claimed graduates earn an average of less than $17,000 a year. Critics have challenged those numbers.
A full copy of the judge’s restraining order is attached below:
