President Barack Obama listens during an October 2011 meeting of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. (Jonathan??
The White House is not renewing its Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, set to expire on Thursday, a White House official confirmed after an Associated Press report regarding the closure.
The official added that the White House does plan, however, to expand efforts to promote the council's work.
The council has long faced criticism from Republicans who say it's ineffective. And news of its closure amid continued national economic turmoil immediately became fodder for GOP attacks on Thursday.
"Unbelievable," Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri began in a statement in reaction to the news on Thursday.
"Over the past four years, President Obama has seemed far more interested in political show votes and tax gimmicks than actually focusing on what Americans need: more jobs," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
The White House Jobs Council's website on Thursday indicated the council had met four times since its inception (and has conducted 18 Listening and Action Sessions "in communities around the country with businesses and local leaders"). During the council's existence, Republicans often pointed to the council's infrequent meeting schedule as a sign of its ineffectiveness, something Republicans reiterated on Thursday.
"President Obama is giving up on his Jobs Council after it only met four times since 2011?the most recent of which was almost a year ago," Blunt said.
McConnell cast the council as a failure, stating:
In fact, for more than a year, he was too focused on politics to regularly meet with or adopt the advice of the very Jobs Council he created amidst so much fanfare. With the economy shrinking and millions of Americans still out of work, there are few clearer signs of this neglect than the fact that the Jobs Council is now defunct after having met only a few times since 2011.
Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued similar criticism in a statement on Thursday:
"To understand the abysmal nature of our economic recovery, look no further than the president?s disinterest in learning lessons from actual job creators. Whether ignoring the group or rejecting its recommendations, the president treated his Jobs Council as more of a nuisance than a vehicle to spur job creation."
The Republican Governors Association mocked the president on Twitter:
Republicans' arguments are compounded by recent economic news.
The economy on Wednesday unexpectedly contracted, with the GDP falling at a 0.1 percent rate, the Commerce Department announced. The White House said Superstorm Sandy and disruptions from deep, scheduled spending cuts were responsible for the downturn.
The jobs council was created in January 2011?after the closure of the president?s Economic Recovery Advisory Board?as a formal vehicle by which President Barack Obama could receive input on how to strengthen the nation's economy and create jobs. The White House official said Thursday that the Council on Jobs was always intended to have a two-year lifespan.
The official also noted that the council created construction jobs related to making buildings energy-efficient, streamlined Small Business Administration applications for funds, and recommended other initiatives, such as ways to increase U.S. tourism.
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