Washington (AP)President-elect Donald Trump elevated a Republican congressman who has significant union support in her area but lost reelection in November when he chose Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor in his second term on Friday.
The Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump assumes office on January 20, 2025, will need to confirm Chavez-DeRemer before it can formally forward nominations to Capitol Hill.
Here are some facts about the labor secretary-designate, the department she would head if approved by the Senate, and how she would be important to Trump’s second term in office.
Unions appreciate Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-labor record.
Earlier last month, Chavez-DeRemer lost her bid for reelection in her tough Oregon district, making her a one-term congresswoman. However, in her brief time on Capitol Hill, she has made a strong statement on organized labor and workers’ rights, which contrasts with the Republican Party’s customary support of corporate interests.
She was a strong supporter of the PRO Act, a piece of legislation that would facilitate federal unionization. During his first two years in office, when Democrats controlled the House, the bill—one of Democratic President Joe Biden’s top legislative priorities—passed the chamber. However, it was never able to draw in enough Republican senators to get the 60 votes needed to prevent a Senate filibuster.
Another piece of legislation that would shield public sector employees from having their Social Security benefits withheld due to government pension benefits was also co-sponsored by Chavez-DeRemer. The absence of GOP support for that measure has also persisted.
Some labor leaders continue to have doubts about Trump’s plans.
Labor may have a lot to like about Chavez-DeRemer, but union officials aren’t necessarily applauding just yet. Trump is still distrusted by many of them.
Undoubtedly, the president-elect has positioned himself as a working-class friend. His political identity is rooted in his relationship with blue-collar, non-college educated Americans, which has helped him undermine Democrats’ historical electoral advantage in households with unionized workers.
However, throughout his 2017–21 term, he also appointed business-friendly members to the National Labor Relations Board and has usually supported legislation that would make it more difficult for employees to form unions. On the campaign trail, he attacked union leaders and once said that United Auto Workers members shouldn’t pay their dues. The Biden administration’s more liberal overtime standards were later overturned by a judge selected by Trump, and his administration did broaden overtime eligibility rules, but not nearly as much as Democrats desired.
Even though Trump disassociated himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 during the campaign, he has subsequently been more receptive to some of the participants in that conservative plan that, in general, would further slant power in the workplace in favor of businesses and employers. The plan would, among other things, reduce the enforcement of workplace safety laws.
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, praised Chavez-DeRemer’s House record following Trump’s announcement on Friday, but she issued a warning.
During her confirmation process, Pringle said, “Educators and working families across the country will be watching and hoping to hear a pledge from her to continue standing up for workers and students as her record suggests, not blind loyalty to the Project 2025 agenda.”
With a Cabinet full of billionaires, the Labor Department might be the center of attention.
Another executive department that frequently stays out of the public eye is labor. However, Trump’s focus on the working class may draw more attention to the department, particularly in an administration that includes the president-elect and other extremely rich executives.
Trump impliedly attacked the department’s traditionally uncontroversial labor statistics maintenance function, claiming that Biden’s administration falsified workforce and unemployment estimates.
Chavez-DeRemer might be placed between a president who has strong views about government statistics and what they say about the status of the economy and the White House’s stewardship and the impartial bureaucrats at the Bureau of Labor Statistics if she is confirmed. Her management of overtime regulations would also be closely examined, and she might be dragged into the aftermath of Trump’s pledge to establish the biggest deportation force in American history, which might set up Trump’s administration against businesses and industries that rely significantly on foreign labor.
Chavez-DeRemer would give the Cabinet chamber more diversity.
The first Republican woman elected to Congress from Oregon was Chavez-DeRemer. She is the second Latino to be appointed to Trump’s second Cabinet, following Florida senator and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio. Alexander Acosta, Trump’s first labor secretary, was Latino as well.
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