Trump's Gross $45 million Birthday Parade and the Elimination of Job Corps - A Vital Federal Program for At-Risk Young Adults
5.5.2025
Dear MAGA Members of Congress:
For Trump’s 79th birthday, he plans to spend $45 million to hold a military parade in his own honor requiring more than 6600 troops to participate. How very Kim Jong Un.
At the same time Trump, et. al. are planning this gross display of authoritarian power cos-play, they are also trying to push through what Politico is calling a “scorched earth budget” explaining “[the regime’s] budget blueprint ask[s] Congress to slash non-defense programs by more than $163 billion while keeping military funding flat.”
One of the critical federal programs on the chopping block is Job Corps. “On Aug. 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act, a centerpiece of his War on Poverty. Along with 10 other major programs, the act established a federal Job Corps program designed to increase the employability of young adults by ‘providing them with education, vocational training, [and] useful work experience.’”
Job Corps provides education, job/trade training, food, and housing to young adults between the ages 16 to 24, who would otherwise be at high risk for becoming unhoused/homeless adults who would be forced to rely on public assistance were it not for Job Corps. Prior studies have shown that Job Corps is “the ‘only federal training program that has been shown to increase earnings for this population,’ leading participants to go further in school, reducing their criminal activity, and increasing their average earnings for several years after the program, although the earnings gains were only sustained by older participants.” [Emphasis added].
This is not the first time Trump has tried to eliminate the critical programs provided by Job Corps. He tried to eliminate nine centers in his first term but reversed course in the face of public outcry.
There are many, many reasons the budget cuts are reprehensible. There are many, many reasons even republicans should be pushing back on them. Job Corps is vital to the students it serves. Since its inception, it has helped over 3 million young adults. Further, many of the students have provided vital work in natural resource conservation, forestry, and wildland firefighting while attending Job Corps. These are kids on the cusp of adulthood who have no other options for survival.
I beg you, as a former foster mother of a troubled teen whose only option for food, housing, and education is Job Corps, to stand up to Trump and do not allow the proposed budget to go through.
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/02/trumps-budget-asks-congress-00323256
https://www.reddit.com/r/jobcorps/comments/1k83jpu/us_department_of_labor_releases_new_job_corps/
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/trump-budget-dol/519933/
https://appvoices.org/2019/06/25/trump-backs-off-job-center-shutdown/