Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOL NEWS—In 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, Labor Department promises to serve as ‘blueprint’ for Trump’s agenda, (Apr 7, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

In the overview, the plan explains that “DOL addresses the Administration’s priorities through the implementation of Presidential Executive orders,” even before it discusses its goals or objectives.

The Department of Labor’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026-2030 is now available online and, in its first sentence, announces that it “will serve as a blueprint for President Donald Trump’s agenda to put American workers first.”

“President Trump has laid out a bold vision for the Golden Age of America,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer states in her message at the beginning of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, “and the Department of Labor stands ready to help him bring that goal to life.”

Trump’s vision. Indeed, it is Trump’s vision, more so than statutory objectives, that appear to drive the plan, along with, as described by the Secretary, a focus “on scaling back harmful regulations that hamstring businesses and crush innovation.” The plan references various Executive Orders as the source of priorities; it aligns metrics and programs to EO named initiatives; and it justifies organizational change through administration policy goals. Readers will find notable differences between this plan and the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, which focused on the Labor Department’s authority as flowing from the various labor statutes and the agency’s enforcement and administrative responsibilities.

Administration priorities. The “administration priorities” that it plans to address “through the implementation of Presidential Executive orders” are described as: fostering partnerships between businesses, unions, and educational institutions to create a stronger, more robust workforce pipeline; strengthening pathways to high-paying skilled- trade jobs of the future across U.S. industries; implementing innovative strategies to enhance workforce development and boost economic growth; promoting skills training, apprenticeships, and career education to meet modern workforce needs; cutting the bureaucratic red tape stifling innovation and job growth while protecting workers’ rights; supporting federal labor policies that empower and protect both workers and job creators; championing Made in America jobs and the industries that drive them; highlighting best practices from the communities getting it right by showcasing America at Work; protecting American taxpayers from fraud, waste, and abuse in DOL programs such as unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation; and supporting American investors, industries, and manufacturers to enable the reindustrialization and reshoring of American manufacturing jobs.

Goals. It states three strategic goals: (1) “Making America Skilled Again”; (2) protecting American workers; and (3) restoring government efficiency. Within the second goal, Strategic Objective 2.3, for example, is to “utilize enforcement as necessary, and promote compliance with federal safety, health, labor, and employment protection standards to secure a safe and strong American workforce.” Strategies to make that happen, according to the plan, include a “pivot toward more efficient enforcement” and an effort to “prevent violations through compliance assistance and outreach.”

Fewer penalties. Drilling down further, the “efficient enforcement” strategy will entail “less penalty-dependent enforcement.” Among other things, OSHA, it states, “will reduce the burden on small businesses by reducing the total penalties assessed” and “will improve the targeting of enforcement resources on the most egregious offenders and the most dangerous workplaces and ensure that the agency is focused on the employers that show the most indifference to their Occupational Safety and Health Act obligations.” WHD, likewise, “will prioritize enforcement efforts to find and resolve egregious, systemic, and willful violations of federal labor laws.”

Self-audits. As for the plan to prevent violations through assistance and outreach, the plan appears to focus on the use of self-audit programs and “compliance assistance.” For example, within WHD, the relaunched Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program “will provide an avenue for good faith employers to correct compliance issues” under the FLSA and FMLA “without additional penalties.”

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