18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Notable

Implement an industry-recognized apprenticeship program outside the RAP

Attempted

Printed page 594 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies

“The next Administration should return to prior policy and implement an industry-recognized apprenticeship program separate from the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) and explore how best to modernize, streamline, and eliminate duplication in the RAP.”

What has happened

Jul 2, 2025 Attempted
The Employment and Training Administration proposed to rescind what it called unlawful regulatory provisions in the Registered Apprenticeship regulations and to make conforming changes to 29 CFR part 29, "to streamline and simplify sponsors' obligations". A proposed rule and still the streamlining half; it is listed at Final Rule Stage on the current Unified Agenda (RIN 1205-AC21) and had not published a final rule by 2026-08-31.
- DOL/ETA proposed rule: Prohibiting Illegal Discrimination in Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RIN 1205-AC21)
  Primary Executive branch Jul 2, 2025
Apr 23, 2025 Attempted
Executive Order 14278 ordered the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce and Education to review all federal workforce development programs within 90 days and report strategies including "recommendations to further restructure and consolidate programs", and within 120 days to deliver a plan to reach one million active apprentices. That is the "modernize, streamline, and eliminate duplication in the RAP" half of the Quote. On the other half the order goes the opposite way: it commits the administration to "protect and strengthen Registered Apprenticeships" and never mentions an industry-recognized program outside the RAP.
- Executive Order 14278 — Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future (sections 3 and 4: review and consolidate federal workforce development programmes; plan to reach one million active apprentices)
  Primary Executive branch Apr 23, 2025

Research log

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

Research notes

Two-object ask and the ladder governs (§3b, the #2125 pattern): the IRAP half — an industry-recognized apprenticeship program separate from the RAP — has not been re-created by anything. apprenticeship.gov, the Department’s own apprenticeship site (215 URLs in its sitemap, read 2026-08-31), carries no IRAP page and no industry-recognized program; the Federal Register full-text search for “industry-recognized apprenticeship” over the window returns zero documents.
The FY2027 Budget’s replacement is Make America Skilled Again (MASA), which “would expand Registered Apprenticeship” — again the RAP, not an alternative to it.
#1638 is the statutory version of the IRAP half and is not started.

Action: create
Object: Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP)
ID: 1637