Donald Trump has tapped former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) to lead the U.S. Department of Labor. She was a co-sponsor and one of five Republicans who voted for organized labor’s top legislative priority, Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. It passed the House of Representatives in 2021 on a mostly party-line, 225-206 vote.
Chavez-DeRemer was also one of eight Republicans who co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Bargain Act, an effort to unionize more of the federal workforce. He lost his seat to state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D) in November. In a Nov. 22 post on social media, Trump described her as someone who “worked with both business and labor to build America’s workforce.” Like all nominations for cabinet posts, he will need Senate confirmation.
Sean O’Brien, general president of the United Brotherhood of Teamsters, has been widely reported to have pushed for his nomination, angering conservatives such as Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. His group characterized Teamsters leadership’s refusal 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 twice earlier this year.
Shortly after Chavez-DeRemer was nominated, O’Brien posted on social media saying the Teamsters would work with her “every step of the way to expand good union jobs and rebuild the middle class in nation”.
Other unions have been more skeptical. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler noted DeRemer’s pro-labor record in Congress but questioned how much the candidate would achieve for workers in an administration with several cabinet members already appointed who have ties to the Project 2025, a 900-page conservative plan to, among other things, weaken health, safety and labor policies.
“The AFL-CIO will work with anyone who wants to do good for workers, but we will reject and defeat any attempt to roll back the rights and protections workers have earned through decades of blood, sweat and tears,” Shuler said. . “You can support working people, or you can support Project 2025, but you can’t support both.”
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Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) praised the nomination, posting on social media that “Lori will be a fierce advocate for our nation’s incredible workforce as she executes” the incoming administration’s agenda.
Mark Takano (D-Calif.) also praised the nomination. “I served with her on the House Education and Workforce Committee and her support for the Right to Organize Act is indicative of her willingness to stand with workers” , he said in a statement.
But Associated Builders and Contractors, one of the few construction trade groups endorsing Trump, raised the candidate’s support for pro-union politics as a concern. “We’re interested in understanding Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s views on the Right to Organize Protection Act and other issues … as she embarks on her confirmation process,” said Kristin Swearingen, Vice President for Affairs legislators and politicians.
