President-elect Trump has picked Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) to serve as Labor secretary for his second stint in the White House, tapping the one-term House lawmaker who has strong support from unions.
Trump’s choice of Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the last president-elect’s Cabinet picks. The Oregon representative will need to be confirmed through the upper chamber that will be controlled by Republicans next January once Trump settles into the Oval Office and Congress kicks off a new session.
Here are some of the things to know about Chavez-DeRemer:
Labor secretary nod
Chavez-DeRemer was tapped by Trump to lead the DOL on Friday. The president-elect lauded her for working “tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America.”
“I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs, Trump said in the Friday announcement.
Her candidacy for the post was backed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union among others. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien wrote an op-ed in the magazine Compact, which was released on Thursday, where he endorsed the Oregon Republican despite the union not agreeing with her “on everything.”
“She stood with Teamsters throughout Oregon and across the country when we negotiated an historic contract with UPS last year. She has worked hard to expand apprenticeship opportunities for people who are entering the workforce or switching careers,” O’Brien wrote. “And as a member of the Congressional Building Trades Caucus, she has brought together leaders in the construction industry to improve conditions on the job.”
Short stint on Capitol Hill
Chavez-DeRemer represented Oregon’s 5th Congressional District in the 118th Congress. She lost her reelection contest to Democrat Janelle Bynum earlier this month by 2 points in one of the most competitive races this cycle.
During her short stint on Capitol Hill, Chavez-DeRemeber billed herself as a moderate Republican who welcomes bipartisanship. Apart from her focus on labor, the Oregon representative has shown support for bills that would increase felonies for fentanyl trafficking and protect responders who might end up being exposed to it.
She also co-sponsored federal cannabis law reforms with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Pro-labor record
The Oregon Republican has marketed herself during her time in Congress as an avid supporter of organized labor and workers’ rights.
Chavez-DeRemer was one of three Republican co-sponsors of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, legislation that increases penalties for employers who break law labor and makes it easier to unionize. The legislation passed the House when Democrats had the majority, but it never got enough support in the Senate.
She also co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, a bill that would expand the powers of public sector unions. Additionally, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would shield workers in the public sector from having their Social Security benefits reduced.
Support from union leaders
Chavez-DeRemer has enjoyed support from unions during her time in Congress and on the campaign trail.
After being picked by Trump on Friday, O’Brien thanked the president-elect for the choice and congratulated the GOP member on the bid.
North America’s strongest union is ready to work with you every step of the way to expand good union jobs and rebuild our nation’s middle class,” O’Brien wrote on X. “Let’s get to work!”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler praised Chavez-DeRemer for having “built a pro-labor record in Congress,” but cautioned that “Trump is the President-elect of the United States — not Rep. Chavez-DeRemer — and it remains to be seen what she will be permitted to do as Secretary of Labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-worker agenda.”
Shuler said the union 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.”
However, the Oregon GOP member has gotten criticism from Democrats and some conservatives regarding labor and other issues. The conservative-leaning think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute dinged her for supporting the Pro Act.
“While it is hard to predict what she would do as a Cabinet member, what we do know is not encouraging. In any event, Cabinet secretary shouldn’t be a place for on-the-job training. Trump should keep on looking,” Competitive Enterprise Institute’s research fellow research fellow Sean Higgins wrote.
While campaigning this year, Chavez-DeRemer looked for union endorsements. She garnered over 20, including from the Teamsters Joint Council No. 37.
After the Friday announcement, the National Education Association President Becky Pringle praised the lawmaker’s record on labor issues, but warned that it “stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s anti-worker, anti-union record, and his extreme Project 2025 agenda that would gut workplace protections, make it harder for workers to unionize, and diminish the voice of working people.”
Pringle said but added that “educators and working families across the nation will be watching Lori Chavez-DeRemer as she moves through the confirmation process and hope to hear a pledge from her to continue to stand up for workers and students as her record suggests, not blind loyalty to the Project 2025 agenda.”
Municipal career in Oregon
Chavez-DeRemer has over a decade of public service experience. Before serving Oregon’s 5th Congressional district constituents, Chavez-DeRemer was on Happy Valley City Council where she was first elected in the early 2000s. In 2010, she was elected mayor of the suburb. She was reelected in 2014.
She lost twice to Bynum when running for statehouse seats. When she was elected to the House, she became the first GOP woman to represent Oregon in the lower chamber.
