Vance Backs Ending H-1B Program as $100,000 H-1B Fee Court Fight Stalls Future

Vice President JD Vance said he would support eliminating the visa system as courts blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B fee. His comments sharpened the political challenge, but did not change the program’s legal status. It remains in place.

“My view is the H-1B program is completely broken” and “I’d be very supportive of just eliminating it,” he said in a livestream interview. He later amplified the clip on X. He argued the system can replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor.

The remarks came amid a court fight over President Donald Trump’s fee policy. On October 1, 2026, a federal judge blocked enforcement, finding the administration had not followed required rulemaking procedures. The comments were reported the next day, October 2, 2026.

He also called for worker protections while the visa remains available. “But while we have it, what we have to do is protect American workers” and “tell your congressman to fix this program.”

A judge blocked the fee, not the visa system

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. issued the October 1 order in Oakland, California. The ruling blocks the charge over procedural defects in how the administration pursued it. It does not abolish H-1B visas.

Courts have blocked the fee in Massachusetts and California. A September 18, 2026 proclamation extended the policy through September 2027, but the court order against collection remains in effect. The administration’s attempt to impose the charge is stalled in court even as the policy’s stated duration runs on.

His position is a political call, not an executive action ending the system. Abolition would require congressional action or another binding legal change. Until then, employers can continue filing petitions under existing rules, subject to the cap and other requirements.

Employers still face a capped lottery for most petitions

The annual cap covers 65,000 regular visas and another 20,000 for people with U.S. master’s degrees, for 85,000 cap-subject visas altogether. Demand exceeds that limit, so U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services uses a lottery.

For FY 2026, USCIS reported 343,981 eligible registrations and 120,141 selected registrations, an estimated selection rate of roughly 35%. A separate 2026 cap-season summary counted 118,660 selected beneficiaries from 343,981 eligible registrations and about 339,000 unique beneficiaries. The reports provide different selected totals and use different terms: registrations in one count, beneficiaries in the other.

The beneficiary-centric selection system began with FY 2025. It gives each worker one entry, regardless of how many employers register that person, reducing the possibility of duplicate entries. Universities, nonprofit research organizations affiliated with universities, and government research entities are cap-exempt and can file year-round.

USCIS decided 415,275 H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025 and approved 406,349, a 97.9% approval rate. That figure covers petitions decided by the agency, not lottery registrations. Selection and petition decisions are separate steps.

The disputed charge targets certain new petitions

The proclamation fee applies to certain new H-1B petitions, rather than every case in the existing system. With collection blocked by court orders, the fee is not currently being collected under the challenged policy, while ordinary petition rules remain in force.

Employers generally must first file a labor condition application with the Department of Labor before submitting a petition. The visa covers specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a specific field. Those filing duties fall on employers; workers enter the lottery through the employer’s registration.

Premium processing remains a separate option. As of March 1, 2026, it costs $2,965 for Form I-129 H-1B petitions and generally requires USCIS to take action within 15 business days. It does not remove a petition from the cap process or resolve the court dispute over the proclamation fee.

He urged Congress to change the system

The administration has pursued changes through fees and enforcement, while he framed the issue as a question of protecting U.S. workers and curbing what it views as abuse. His call to end the visa goes further than that enforcement approach. He also urged listeners to press Congress to repair the system if it continues.

Until a court allows collection or a binding legal change ends the program, the existing cap, lottery and petition requirements remain the working framework.