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Sonderling on OAN: Working Families Tax Law, Workforce Pell and the One Million Apprenticeships Goal

September 14, 2026 · USDepartmentofLabor · 0:04:54

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What happened

Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling spoke with One America News about the skilled trades and the effects of President Trump’s Working Families Tax Law one year on. Sonderling called the law one of the best things to happen for American workers, crediting the president and congressional Republicans, and noted that every Democrat voted against it, as he stated it.

He said the no-tax-on-tips and no-tax-on-overtime provisions mean more take-home pay, that tipping has increased as he travels the country, and that American families are bringing home over $10,000 more this year because of the Working Families Tax Cut, as he stated it. He highlighted two lesser-known provisions: Workforce Pell Grants, which let students use federal aid for 8-to-15-week certificate programs at community colleges — such as CDL licenses, basic CNC training, and welding — where no student aid was previously available; and the expansion of 529 accounts, which families can now use for trade schools and apprenticeship programs rather than only four-year degrees.

Asked about the skilled-labor shortage, Sonderling said the education system pushed students toward four-year degrees and removed trades from high schools. He said President Trump signed an executive order on high-skilled trade jobs requiring the Department of Labor to reach one million active registered apprenticeships, so students can earn while they learn instead of taking on debt, as he stated it.

Why it matters

The interview is the Labor Department’s one-year case for the Working Families Tax Law, and it restates a concrete workforce target — one million active registered apprenticeships — against which the department’s progress can be measured.

Scoreboard watch

The executive-order target Sonderling cited — one million active registered apprenticeships — is a checkable scoreboard figure, as is his claim that families are bringing home over $10,000 more this year under the law.

Sources: USDepartmentofLabor, “Secretary Sonderling speaks with OAN about the trades.”, 2026-09-14 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-09-14). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.