Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Amid Misconduct Investigation
Photo courtesy of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Congress
The Trump administration announced Monday, April 20 that Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving to take a position in the private sector. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role,” an administration spokesperson said.
Chavez-DeRemer’s exit is not a surprise. A series of news reports for months have detailed how she became entangled in political and personal controversies. She has been under scrutiny since January, when the Department of Labor’s Inspector General opened an investigation into allegations that she was involved in an extramarital affair with a member of her security detail, that she drank on the job and that top aides planned official trips for primarily personal reasons, according to multiple news reports.
Four people who had been placed on leave during the investigation have left the Labor Department, including Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, according to Politico.
A whistleblower complaint in January alleged Chavez-DeRemer created a hostile work environment and Labor Department staffed accused her of being a “boss from hell” forcing aides to run personal errands or perform mental tasks while on the clock, according to the New York Post.
The scandals broadened in April with the New York Times reporting the inspector general was reviewing personal text messages Chavez-DeRemer, her top aides and family members routinely sent to young staff members, including her husband and father exchanging texts with young female staffers.
Throughout her tenure Chavez-DeRemer and her staff consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing. “The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media,” she said on X after her resignation.
Chavez-DeRemer traveled to at least 36 states for events since taking office in March 2025, part of her plan to visit all 50 states in her first year to connect with rank-and-file workers, according to the Washington Post.
Chavez-DeRemer, 57, is a small business owner and served one term in Congress, representing Oregon’s 5th Congressional District as a Republican. The daughter of a Teamsters member, Chavez-DeRemer was endorsed by the Teamsters union for her cabinet seat.
Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, will become acting labor secretary in her place.
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure follows the firings of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and former Attorney General Pam Bondi in April.
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