White House Scraps Trump’s Industry-Led Apprenticeship Model (1)

The White House is discontinuing a Trump administration workforce initiative that sought to deregulate government-funded apprenticeship programs by shifting oversight to industry groups.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday will reverse a 2017 executive order from former President Donald Trump that called for the Labor Department to launch so-called industry-recognized apprenticeship programs, or IRAPs, the White House announced.

The Biden administration will instead focus on the Labor Department’s traditional registered apprenticeships favored by organized labor—which require tougher standards for program operators—as the pathway to expand the nation’s earn-as-you-learn job-training system.

The IRAP model was supported by some companies and congressional Republicans ...