President Joe Biden, in one of his latest executive actions, has discontinued an industry-led apprenticeship system that was initiated under the Trump administration, shifting the control of those programs back to the federal government.
The Trump initiative, known as the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), was created in 2017 as a parallel to the existing Registered Apprenticeships, which are certified by the Labor Department or authorized state agencies. The IRAP model, however, allowed third-party private entities, such as trade and labor groups, to develop and certify apprenticeship programs they considered appropriate for each industry.
