18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Minor

Move the Office of Foreign Labor Certification out of ETA

Attempted

Printed page 616 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies

“OFLC should be moved out of ETA and made directly accountable to the Secretary with a politically accountable Director.”

What has happened

Apr 3, 2026 Attempted
The FY2027 President's Budget proposes exactly the move the Quote asks for: "the Budget proposes to make the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) an independent sub-agency", reorganized "under the Office of the Secretary of Labor, promoting faster decision-making on labor immigration matters", and would fold into the elevated office the specialized visa activities OSHA runs and the immigration policy coordinating functions ILAB leads. The Appendix carries a new 2027 line for the Office of Foreign Labor Certification in Departmental Management ($87 million) while the Employment and Training Administration's foreign labor certification activity shows no 2027 estimate. A request: Congress has not enacted it and OFLC is still in ETA — confirmed on 2026-09-06 against ETA's own About Us page, which lists the Office of Foreign Labor Certification among ETA's ten offices alongside Apprenticeship, Financial Administration, Grants Management, Job Corps, Management and Administrative Services, Policy Development and Research, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Unemployment Insurance and Workforce Investment.
- Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2027 — Department of Labor chapter ("The Budget strengthens this national security function within DOL by reorganizing OFLC under the Office of the Secretary of Labor")
  Primary Executive branch Apr 3, 2026
- Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2027, Appendix — Department of Labor ("the Budget proposes to make the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) an independent sub-agency"; Departmental Management line 0013, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, $87 million in 2027)
  Primary Executive branch Apr 3, 2026

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

§3b: a President’s Budget request is a formal administration request, so attempted. A reorganization of this size needs appropriations language, which Congress has not enacted.
The Quote’s second limb — “a politically accountable Director” — is not addressed in the Budget text; the reorganization is described in terms of decision speed and immigration-system integrity. That is a reason to level no higher than attempted even if the move happens.
Checked 2026-09-06 (read-queue ticket 07). dol.gov is not a wall to the full header set (see #1622’s notes), and dol.gov/agencies/eta/about lists the Office of Foreign Labor Certification among ETA’s offices. OFLC is therefore still inside ETA and the Budget proposal has not been carried out administratively either. dol.gov/general/aboutdol/orgchart also opens. Recorded in the Status note rather than as Evidence: an organization page evidences that nothing moved, and the event is dated from the Budget request that did.

Action: transfer
Object: Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC)
ID: 1705