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Rep. Virginia Foxx took Labor Secretary Tom Perez to task over the Obama administration's approach to workforce development programs at a hearing on Capitol Hill this morning.

Recently, Foxx — who spearheaded a House-passed workforce bill called the SKILLS Act — has repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for saying he would like to streamline federal workforce programs but has not taken action to do so. Foxx's bill would consolidate dozens of programs. She asked Perez if the president still plans to streamline the workforce system.

Perez argued the Obama administration is indeed trying to make workforce programs easier to access and more efficient. A proposal in the president’s budget to combine two major workforce programs, the Trade Adjustment Act and the displaced worker program in the Workforce Investment Act, would do that.

And some programs that the Education & the Workforce Committee has called out as being ripe for consolidation are not programs at all, but separate funding streams for distinct groups of people, such as disabled veterans, Perez said.

"Those aren't programs; they are resources," Perez said. "Different people have different needs."

Perez emphasized that he thinks the Obama administration shares common ground with House Republicans on workforce issues like data collection and how to measure successful workforce programs.

"I think we have a shared interest, congresswoman, in giving people the skills they need to succeed," Perez said.