Trump Picks Lori Chavez-DeRemer For Labor Secretary

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he would nominate outgoing Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be his labor secretary.

“Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America,” Trump said in a statement.

Chavez-DeRemer lost her House reelection bid earlier this month after serving one term in Congress. A union-friendly Republican, she had the backing of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to lead the Labor Department under Trump.

The incoming president’s choice of Chavez-DeRemer is a surprise considering her track record of working with labor groups. She was a rare Republican supporter of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would dramatically overhaul labor law to make it easier to form unions. Business groups have vehemently opposed the legislation.

The anti-union National Right to Work Committee had publicly opposed Chavez-DeRemer for the labor role, saying she should “have no place in the Trump administration” due to her pro-union views.

The labor secretary has limited regulatory powers when it comes to collective bargaining. The agency’s top duties include enforcing wage-and-hour law and policing workplace hazards through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Labor Department tends to take a business-friendly approach to such matters under Republican administrations.

Unions and other worker advocacy groups could do a lot worse than having the moderate Chavez-DeRemer at the agency’s helm. Trump’s nominees for labor secretary during his first term included a fast-food chief executive and a management-side attorney who was the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

O’Brien thanked Trump for nominating Chavez-DeRemer in a post on X, saying he was “putting American workers first” with the choice. “Now let’s grow wages and improve working conditions nationwide,” O’Brien said.

Politico previously reported that O’Brien had been urging the Trump transition team to choose the Oregon Republican for the role. Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination could be a sign that the Teamsters will have at least some sway with the new administration, despite Trump’s hostility to unions during his first term.

The Teamsters took the rare step of declining to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race, citing strong support for the Republican ticket among its rank and file. The decision infuriated backers of Vice President Kamala Harris and delighted Trump.

The National Education Association, one of the leading teachers’ unions, said Friday that it hoped Chavez-DeRemer would “continue to stand up for workers” if the Senate confirms her, noting she has voted against school vouchers and defunding the Education Department.

“This record stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s anti-worker, anti-union record,” the union’s president, Becky Pringle, said in a statement.

Chavez-DeRemer lost a close race to Democrat Janelle Bynum in Oregon’s 5th District. Since she’s leaving Congress next month, her nomination for labor secretary won’t shrink Republicans’ slim majority in the House any further.