Donald Trump has selected former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) to lead the U.S. Labor Dept. She was a cosponsor and one of five Republicans to vote for organized labor’s top legislative priority, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. It passed the House of Representatives in 2021 by a largely party-line, 225-206 vote.
Chavez-DeRemer also was one of eight Republicans to cosponsor the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, an effort to unionize more of the federal workforce. She lost her seat to state representative Janelle Bynum (D) in November. In a Nov. 22 social media posting, Trump described her as someone who “worked with both business and labor to build America’s workforce.” Like all nominations for cabinet posts, she will need Senate confirmation.
It has been widely reported that Sean O’Brien, general president of the United Brotherhood of Teamsters, pushed for her nomination, angering conservatives like Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. His group characterized the refusal of Teamsters’ leadership to endorse Trump as a “betrayal” because many union members supported him. O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July and met with the GOP nominee on two occasions earlier this year.
Shortly after Chavez-DeRemer was named as the nominee, O’Brien issued a social media post saying the Teamsters would work with her “every step of the way to expand good union jobs and rebuild or nation’s middle class.”
Other labor unions have been more skeptical. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler noted DeRemer’s pro-labor record in Congress, but she questioned how much the nominee would accomplish for workers in an administration with several already named cabinet members having ties to Project 2025, a 900-page conservative plan to, among other things, weaken safety, health and labor policies.
“The AFL-CIO will work with anyone who wants to do right by workers, but we will reject and defeat any attempt to roll back the rights and protections that working people have won with decades of blood, sweat, and tears," Shuler said. "You can stand with working people, or you can stand with Project 2025, but you can’t stand with both.”
Other Responses
House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) praised the nomination, posting on social media that “Lori will be a fierce advocate for our country’s incredible workforce as she executes” the incoming administration agenda.
Mark Takano (D-Calif.) also praised the nomination. "I served with her on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and her support of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act is indicative of her willingness to stand with working men and women," he said in a statement.
But the Associated Builders and Contractors, one of the few construction trade groups to endorse Trump, raised the nominee’s support for pro-union policy as a concern. “We are interested in understanding Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s views on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and other issues ... as she embarks on her confirmation process,” Kristen Swearingen, vice president of legislative and political affairs, said.
