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When Lori Chavez-DeRemer was nominated, she got the job of secretary of labor, charged with shepherding the Republican Party in a more labor-friendly direction. Instead, he turned out to be a typical member of Trump’s Cabinet: incompetent and disgraced. Now he has added dismissal on that list.
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure was announced yesterday evening during the Post X from the White House Communications Director, Steven Cheung, who said he would “take a position in the private sector.” He said that Keith Sonderling, deputy secretary, will be acting secretary.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and to work for the greatest President of my lifetime,” Chavez-DeRemer. wrote on X.
Chavez-DeRemer is likely to be absent from the Department of Labor, in part because she apparently was not. The staff said he was an absentee secretary, and Sonderling has done just that is reported has already been running the department effectively for some time. When Chavez-DeRemer was there, he brought scandal with him. Shortly after his confirmation last spring, he threw himself what looked like a birthday party at department headquarters—his birthday, his picture on television screens and the staff singing “Happy Birthday.” To justify the use of government funds for the bash, the department called the swearing-in ceremony. Chavez-DeRemer told a House committee, “I didn’t have a birthday party,” though New York Times get a picture of the secretary to blow out the candles on the cake.
This period set the tone for Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure as secretary. In January, a complaint it was presented to the department’s inspector general, internal security, and Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were placed on leave and later forced out. Among the accusations facing the secretary are allegations that the department pays for personal trips, drinking alcohol at work, sending employees fishing clubs and having a romantic relationship with a security guard who also put on leave this past winter. In February, Times information that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband had been barred from Labor Department headquarters after at least two employees claimed he sexually assaulted them. (He has “basically” denied the allegations.)
this spring, Times too reported that three other employees had submitted civil rights complaints against Chavez-DeRemer, adding allegations that she retaliated against employees for cooperating with the investigation and asking others to do things for her husband. According to Timesinvestigation revealed evidence that Chavez-DeRemer allegedly sent aides to bring wine to his hotel room during the trip, as well as during the workday. Her father and husband were both said to have sent messages to the department’s female employees, who were instructed by Chavez-DeRemer and an assistant to “be on the lookout” for the two men. Chavez-DeRemer has not specifically responded to the allegations in the January complaint, but did offer a “general rejection” through a lawyer; she and her husband did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Times about the new allegations.
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure, amid increasing scrutiny and media scrutiny, is therefore not surprising. But it is the latest evidence of President Trump “no scalp” policy, in which he refused to push aides for fear of giving away victories to Democrats or the press, is dead. What is known in the new era is who gets fired. Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (who was also accused of having an affair with a staffer and misusing public resources, which she denied), and now Chavez-DeRemer—all women.
Meanwhile, the top male aides have so far escaped consequences for the same serious allegations that Noem and Chavez-DeRemer were pushed out of. Like my partner Sarah Fitzpatrick reported on Fridayofficials have been concerned about FBI Director Kash Patel’s repeated drinking binges (Patel has denied this, and is suing Atlantic); Patel also used The FBI jets off to several locations, including visiting his girlfriend in Nashville, where members of the FBI SWAT team provide security for him. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who faced numerous allegations of excessive drinking during his confirmation, also is reported combine family and work, bringing his wife on advanced discussions. (Hegseth has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.) The only public controversy since the “Signalgate” scandal, where Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the chat where very sensitive matters were being discussed, was National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has been reassigned for a bad post as an ambassador to the United Nations.
Chavez-DeRemer has been so dogged by scandal that it’s easy to forget that her tenure began with an entirely different kind of controversy. His nomination, encouraged by the president of the Teamsters, was seen as evidence of the Republican Party under Trump prioritizing the interests of employees. As a US representative from Oregon, Chavez-DeRemer had a history of voting with Democrats. He was one of three Republicans to sponsor the PRO Act, a labor-backed bill to make unionization easier. Even if most of Trump’s choices were easily confirmed, Chavez-DeRemer faced a fire from fellow Republicans on his views on labour, although he ultimately won all but a few of their votes.
But he leaves behind a small legacy on policy. Maybe that’s because Chavez-DeRemer allegedly spent much of her tenure partying and then playing defense in the investigation, but it’s also because Trump likes to centralize policy decisions in the White House, rather than empower members of the Cabinet. And Trump himself seems to have lost interest in a worker-friendly agenda, if he ever had one in the first place. At the beginning of his second administration, the president dismissal a pro-union member of the National Labor Relations Board (although the dismissal is still being challenged in court) and reduced union protection to about million federal employees.
Since then, the president’s focus has shifted from domestic politics to foreign intervention, particularly the war in Iran, and GOP figures with more labor-friendly rhetoric, including Vice President Vance and Sen. Josh Hawley, have not focused much on labor issues. Support for trade unions among Republican voters have fallen sharply, and union leaders who hoped to develop an alliance with Trump many lost hope in him. Trump’s approval rating among the working class has also been affected by inflation, which has been exacerbated by the Iran war.
With Chavez-DeRemer gone, the Department of Labor will certainly be a more efficient and scandal-free place. Sonderling is said to be traditionally pro-business, but regardless of who Trump nominates as permanent leader, the department is unlikely to be of much importance for the rest of his presidency. The actual acting secretary of labor will be Trump himself.
