Federal Developments: April 2025

At the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, we see our role as more than a convener—we are a backbone organization committed to connecting policy to people. As federal workforce development policies evolve, so too do the systems that impact our region’s employers, training and service providers, and most importantly, our workers.

There are several buckets of developments to track in federal Executive Branch actions related to workforce development policy and funding:

• The first is how federal agencies responsible for implementing workforce development policy will be impacted by anticipated layoffs across the federal government. Preliminary leaks to the press suggest plans for massive layoffs to the Departments of Commerce and Education. Additional plans are expected in mid-April, which will then be followed by public pronouncements. It remains unclear to what extent these plans will be put into action.

• The second is how federal agencies responsible for implementing federal workforce development policy and funding may implement presidential executive actions and edicts, including announcements related to DEI, immigration enforcement. One example is this action taken by the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which announced its intent to reduce the amount of time refugees may be eligible for cash and medical assistance from 12 months to 4 months.

• The third is keeping tabs on the rapid rate of executive actions and edicts announced by the White House. For example, in mid-March the President issued executive actions requiring significant cuts to the Minority Business Development Agency in keeping with the President’s earlier actions on DEI-related initiatives. And in late March, the President rescinded an executive order adopted by the Biden Administration to support federal commitments to registered apprenticeship programs in federal employment and federally funded projects.

Updates on Congressional Actions: Reconciliation Process

In mid-March, Congress passed a continuing resolution that allowed the federal government to continue to remain open, but it also cut more than $183 million in federal funding for training and employment services. This post from the National Skills Coalition provides a useful overview. Fortunately, these cuts will not directly impact the WDC.

With respect to WIOA reauthorization, it now appears that action on a reauthorization bill may not be likely this year. The deals on policy that allowed the House of Representatives to move forward on a reauthorization bill in the prior Congress appear to not be holding in the current Congress. This means that any action on WIOA funding is most likely to happen in the context of budget negotiations, including the federal budget reconciliation process.

This primer on budget reconciliation provides some context on what that process entails.

Currently, Congress is focused on passing a budget resolution, which would allow it to move forward on a reconciliation process. That resolution - which provides instructions for the reconciliation process - would (over the next 10 years) continue $5 trillion dollars in tax cuts, increase tax cuts by an additional $1.5 trillion, significantly increase funding for immigration enforcement and the military, and potentially make significant cuts to a range of federal programs, including Medicaid. How funding for workforce programs may fair in this broader congressional effort cannot be predicted with much confidence at this time.

Current Trends Shaping the Industry Landscape

This recent report from Harvard University Project on Workforce and the National Governors Association summarize important trends in workforce development policy. It underscores five important developments in recent years:

1. States are developing new structures to better align workforce-related strategy and resources across state agencies.

2. States are seeking better and more effective engagement of stakeholders.

3. States are utilizing workforce strategies to attract and retain businesses.

4. States are pursuing alternatives to WIOA to fund workforce priorities.

5. States are focused on engaging new workers, including through addressing barriers to employment.

DEI Resources: Despite significant pressure by the Trump Administration to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives using federal contract and procurement power, such actions have limited legal authority. This guidance issued by State AGs from several states is a useful framework for understanding the limits of the DEI-related pronouncements and executive actions taken by the Trump Administration. This Frequently Asked Questions guide from UC Berkeley also provides general legal policy guidance on how to understand the limits of federal DEI-related federal actions.

Issue Spotlight: Immigration

In these early days of the Trump Administration there have been a flurry of executive actions and announcements across the federal government related to immigration, with some actions being challenged in the courts and others still being clarified and implemented. This has created a climate of uncertainty and fear in many immigrant communities, among employers, and immigrant-serving organizations.

National attention is currently focused on a set of federal showdowns in the courts where the federal government may have mistakenly deported immigrants who were protected from deportation, or may have defied court orders halting deportations. Setting that aside for the moment, here are resources on a set of issues currently under the radar that may be causing significant confusion and uncertainty among immigrant households, employers, local governments, and immigrant-serving organizations. 

These policies will have a disproportionate impact on King County, given the size of the immigrant population and workforce. This resource provides some useful information on the impact of the immigrant population in King County and across the nation. In addition, the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance recently released highlights outlining how recent federal policy changes are affecting refugees and immigrants across Washington State.

Select an area below to learn more details.

• Immigration Benefit Processing

  While the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration- related functions have largely been exempted from massive federal layoffs driven by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the federal government has further reduced the capacity of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service and immigration courts to process legal immigration benefits, sometimes by shifting resources toward immigration enforcement. The impact of these actions is not yet clear, but they may lengthen backlogs for a range of immigration programs, ranging from asylum processing, temporary worker visa programs, and more.

• English Only Order

  On March 1, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order establishing English as the official language of the United States. The action also rescinded a prior executive order that focused on ensuring language access across federal agencies. This Q&A guide describes the action and its likely impact. How federal agencies choose to implement the action remains unclear, but for the time being, current agency requirements remain in effect. Furthermore, the executive action does not change underlying federal laws that require language access in a range of federal programs, including federal civil rights laws.

• Registration Requirement for Undocumented Immigrants

  One very confusing and concerning executive action established a registration requirement for undocumented immigrants. The requirement is scheduled to be implemented by April 11, 2025. Under the policy, immigrants would be required to register with the federal government; failure to register may lead to criminal charges; and individuals who register may be vulnerable to deportation. For more information, see this document from the National Immigration Law Center.

• Anticipated Congressional Action on HR32

  King County and the City of Seattle joined a lawsuit in February against the federal government to block federal efforts to force local governments to comply with federal immigration enforcement actions. Advocates are currently tracking a bill in Congress, HR32 “No Bail Out for Sanctuary Cities Act”. If enacted the legislation would allow the federal government to penalize local governments for failing to comply with immigration enforcement laws. At this time, it is unclear when the legislation will move in Congress.

• Considerations for Community Organizations

  There is significant concern about immigration enforcement actions among employers with immigrant workers and organizations that serve immigrants.

  • For an overview of the current policy and legal environment, see this advisory from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

  • For a guide that can provide information to employers, please see this resource from the National Immigration Law Center and the National Employment Law Project.

• Considerations for Local & State Governments

  Research suggests that so-called sanctuary policies, like King County’s policies to prevent unnecessary collaboration with federal immigration authorities, make communities safer and healthier. Such policies prevent the erosion of trust in law enforcement among immigrant communities, increasing the likelihood of cooperation with law enforcement and other government agencies and functions.