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Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has reopened a grant program aimed at getting women into fields in which they are underrepresented, which DOGE previously killed.<\/span>Daniel Heuer\/CNP\/Zuma<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Wednesday morning,<\/span> the Labor Department quietly reposted<\/a> grants aimed at getting women workers into fields like construction and manufacturing, two months after DOGE sanctimoniously canceled the program.<\/p>\n The move came as a shock to employees. DOGE previously eliminated dozens of the congressionally mandated Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations\u00a0(WANTO)<\/a> grants, which support recruiting and training women in industries in fields like construction, manufacturing, and information technology. As Mother Jones<\/em> previously reported<\/a>, DOGE canceled the funds, which it dismissed<\/a> as \u201cwasteful DEI grants,\u201d back in May.<\/p>\n The Labor Department is trying to spin<\/a> the renewed availability of the $5 million grants as proof of the Trump administration\u2019s support for women in the workforce, even though the administration is also trying to eliminate the congressionally mandated, 105-year-old Women\u2019s Bureau that administers them<\/a>. Instead, employees at the department say the agency\u2019s attempted spin is laughable and yet another example of the administration backtracking<\/a> on cutting support for marginalized populations after public outcry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe press release makes it sound like it\u2019s something they came up with,\u201d said Gayle Goldin, former deputy director of the Women\u2019s Bureau under the Biden administration. \u201cThis is a multi-decade grant program that has had bipartisan support for years.\u201d<\/p>\n A DOL employee familiar with the work of the Women\u2019s Bureau agreed, adding, \u201cThis seems to be on trend for them, taking credit for revamping programs when they are largely the same.\u201d (The DOL employees who spoke with Mother Jones<\/em> for this story were granted anonymity for fear of retribution, given that a department official previously threatened staff who spoke to journalists with \u201cserious legal consequences,\u201d including criminal charges, ProPublica<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a>.)<\/p>\n In fact, experts say the extent to which the program has been altered merely dilutes its goals. Compared with last year\u2019s detailed guidelines<\/a> for the grant, this year\u2019s<\/a> eliminate prior references to prioritizing \u201chistorically underrepresented communities,\u201d such as women of color, women with disabilities, and women at or below the federal poverty line, and transgender and nonbinary people. Another DOL employee called those changes \u201cunfortunate,\u201d pointing to recent federal data showing a rise in Black women\u2019s unemployment<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo remove this focus on underrepresented communities, it just makes it less likely that the organizations that ultimately get awarded will intentionally make sure that they are reaching all women, including and especially the ones who frankly need it the most,\u201d that employee said.<\/p>\n Another major change in this year\u2019s grants: It reduces the amount of funds that can be used for supportive services <\/strong>like child care for participants\u2019 kids or transportation to help them get to training programs. \u201cWe know how critical supportive services are to recruiting and retaining women in these programs,\u201d the DOL employee added.<\/p>\n The previously canceled WANTO grants, which will not be restored despite the new funding announcement, were used to support programs for getting women and nonbinary into construction in places like North Carolina and Mississippi. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, cited<\/a> some of these details included in my previous reporting when she questioned Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the status of WANTO grants at a House Appropriations Committee hearing. (Chavez-DeRemer declined to comment on the specific WANTO cuts at that hearing.)<\/p>\n Prior grantees and experts have mixed feelings about the latest development. Goldin, the former deputy director of the Women\u2019s Bureau under Biden, said that on the one hand, \u201cit is surprising, in a good way, to see the grant announcement back up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time,\u201d she added, \u201cI feel like this administration is all over the place. Do they actually want women in the workforce? If so, I really hope organizations apply for this grant funding and that they go ahead and fund them.\u201d <\/p>\n Nora Spencer\u2019s North Carolina nonprofit,\u00a0Hope Renovations<\/a>, which supports and trains women and nonbinary people to work in construction, lost about $300,000 of its $700,000 WANTO grant in May. \u201cWe have gone through all of this frustration and heartache from the grants being taken away,\u201d she told me on Wednesday, \u201cand now they\u2019re back again with no notice to us.\u201d <\/p>\n Spencer is unsure if she will reapply, citing ethical concerns about seeking the funding when this administration does not want to support historically marginalized populations. Those requirements, she said, would \u201climit the people that we can serve.\u201d <\/p>\n