Robert Aderholt Applauds Trump Admin’s Labor Efforts Freeing American Business From ‘Regulatory Overreach’

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) spoke about the Trump Administration’s recent actions in the labor industry.

Transcript

00:00The committee will come to order, and I want to welcome the Secretary of Labor, Chavez de Riemer,

00:06and we welcome you to the subcommittee today, and particularly the Subcommittee on Labor,

00:13Health and Human Services, and Education, particularly the Subcommittee on Labor,

00:18Health and Human Services, and Education, for this hearing on the Department of Labor's

00:23fiscal year 2026 budget request. I want to congratulate you on your bipartisan confirmation

00:32as Secretary and look forward to working with you, especially in this new role that you have

00:37started just a few months ago. Of course, the role of the Department of Labor is to foster,

00:47is to promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners in the United States to improve their

00:52working conditions and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.

00:58Unfortunately, under the previous administration, the agency was too often exceeded its statutory

01:05authority and attempted to implement a regulatory agenda that, had it not been rejected by the

01:11American public in the last year's elections, would have crippled American job creators and

01:16undermined the ability of the American workers to secure economic opportunities they need to

01:21support their families. Moreover, the Department was more interested in catering to beltway-based

01:27liberal social policy concerns rather than responding to the real needs of American workers,

01:33job seekers, and employers. These misguided harmful regulatory proposals included an OSHA requirement

01:40that, if not found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, would have required Americans to receive

01:47the COVID-19 vaccinations as a prerequisite for employment. Also, it would have included a wage and hour

01:55regulation that would have ended freelance and independent work opportunities, particularly important to

02:01workers with caregiving responsibilities who value flexibility. And also, a change to overtime regulations

02:09that would have reduced worker opportunity for career advancement. More than 417,000 businesses in Alabama

02:19employ over 47 percent of private sector workers in the state. Many of the small businesses in the district

02:26that I represent are family farms. No industry suffered more under the harmful regulation regime of the previous administration

02:33than the American farmer because of an increase in the H-2A adverse effect wage rates.

02:42And so, Madam Secretary, I look forward to working with you and your agency, as well as USDA, to address this adverse effect wage rate issue

02:52and supporting this vital industry going forward.

02:56President Trump's election and your subsequent confirmation is a breath of fresh air, not only for the American worker,

03:05but also for the job creators. No longer will American businesses have to fear regulatory overreach or enforcement actions

03:14designed to punish employers and limit their success. Madam Secretary, while the Department's regulatory matters are frequently contentious,

03:22we have often been able to find bipartisan common ground on skills training.

03:28Apprenticeships produce positive outcomes for workers and job seekers,

03:34putting a priority on what should should be the end goal of all workforce development programs, which is a job.

03:42These programs only exist where businesses choose to adapt this intensive approach to human capital management.

03:50We have seen support for these programs flourish under multiple administrations,

03:55and I hope that we will continue to build out these opportunities.

04:00The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship was in part created to respond to employer frustration with the Department of Labor's management

04:09of the Registered Apprenticeship Program.

04:13These frustrations included a bureaucratic and outdated one-size-fits-all approach to skills training

04:19with overly prescriptive requirements.

04:21Too often, under the previous administration, the Department of Labor showed favoritism in reviewing

04:28apprenticeship program applications and, in the name of equity and inclusion,

04:34would have turned a two-page law into a 776-page rule that would have reduced opportunities

04:41for American workers of all race and both sexes.

04:44We should be ensuring that American workers and job seekers have direct access to career pathways

04:52that work for them and not adding 776 layers of Byzantine mazes to navigate.

04:59Apprenticeships represent an opportunity and a pathway to high-paying jobs.

05:03Unfortunately, the barriers to growth of this career training model will not be solved through funding alone.

05:10So, improved program administration and more effective leadership at and by the department

05:17can better support the adoption of registered apprenticeships for workers or nation's workforce.

05:26I'm hopeful that as we work through this shortened budget year,

05:32that we're able to once again find some common ground as we move forward.

05:35And I'm not only hopeful, but I feel like we will be able to do that.

05:41And I know that this subcommittee looks forward to hearing from your testimony today

05:45and asking questions about the budget and the policies that you are over at your department.

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