Labor

Trump’s Labor Sec Pick Sided With Dems On Major Pro-Union Bills Before Getting Nod

Department of Labor seal (By U.S. Department of Labor - US DOL, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=734611)

Outgoing Republican Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Labor (DOL), previously sided with Democrats on a bill that would upend right-to-work laws and has assumed other positions at odds with GOP orthodoxy.

Chavez-DeRemer, who represented Oregon’s 5th district in the House as a Republican before getting the nod from Trump to run the DOL, supported the PRO Act, a major piece of legislation targeting the private sector that was at the top of President Joe Biden’s wishlist. Moreover, Chavez-DeRemer also backs the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would strengthen public sector unions — typically bastions of institutional support for Democrats — at a time when Trump is motivated to cut government bloat and weaken the influence of unelected bureaucrats over the policymaking process.

Some Senate Republicans are not totally enthused by Trump’s decision to nominate Chavez-DeRemer, according to The Washington Post, though a few Senate Democrats — including left-wing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — have tentatively signaled that they are open to supporting Chavez-DeRemer, according to National Review.

“I plan to hold President-elect Trump’s feet to the fire for working people, and I look forward to hearing more from Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer. It’s a big deal that one of the few Republican lawmakers who have endorsed the PRO Act could lead the Department of Labor,” Warren said in a Tuesday statement. “If Chavez-DeRemer commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power, she’s a strong candidate for the job. But this nomination is an early test: will Trump stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment’s opposition?”

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a massive labor union that backed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, praised Chavez-DeRemer’s record on labor issues in a statement addressing her nomination while noting that it remains to be seen how she will run the DOL for Trump.

The National Education Association, a major teachers union that donated overwhelmingly to Democrats in the 2024 elections, also praised Chavez-DeRemer’s record in a statement following her nomination. Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote in a post to X that Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination is “significant.”

“It is significant that the Pres-elect nominated Rep. Chavez-DeRemer for Labor. Her record suggests real support of workers & their right to unionize,” Weingarten wrote. “I hope it means the Trump admin will actually respect collective bargaining and workers’ voices from Teamsters to teachers.”

Business interests reportedly opposed Chavez-DeRemer as a potential labor secretary, and the Teamsters — a major labor union — successfully lobbied for her to get the job, according to Politico. While a September poll showed that nearly 60% of rank-and-file Teamsters backed Trump in the recent election, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien opted against endorsing either candidate in the race.

With respect to the PRO Act, Chavez-DeRemer was one of only three House Republicans to endorse the bill upon its most recent introduction in the chamber. Democrats broadly support the PRO Act, while most Republicans oppose it because they view the bill as one that would curb worker choice and saddle consumers with increased costs while quashing state-level “right to work” laws opposed by major labor unions.

For his part, Trump has hailed Chavez-DeRemer as an individual who can effectively bridge the divide between business and labor.

“I am proud to hereby nominate Lori Chavez-DeRemer, from the Great State of Oregon, as United States Secretary of Labor. 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 his Truth Social post announcing his selection of Chavez-DeRemer. “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. Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.”

Assuming Chavez-DeRemer does not abandon her support for the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, at least in spirit, she may find herself at odds with one of the Trump administration’s major initiatives.

Billionaire businessmen Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk have stated that they will seek to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce as the directors of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) — a leading union for federal workers — has railed against DOGE’s push to trim the federal workforce and supports the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, as Chavez-DeRemer did in her capacity as a legislator.

“Lori Chavez-DeRemer is honored to be President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor. If confirmed, she will look forward to advancing the policies set forth by the Trump-Vance Administration,” a spokesperson for Chavez-DeRemer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Out of the utmost respect for the Senate and their constitutional responsibility, she will reserve comment for the confirmation hearing.”

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.