Trump’s Labor Secretary’s Impressive Legacy of Sleaze
In September 2024, the Teamsters, including strutting around like an idiot presidentSean O’Brien, had received the previous month a prime time slot at the Republican National Convention, I dove on support for a presidential candidate. This was the first time the Teamsters had not supported since 1992, and a completely irrational choicegiven that Donald Trump opposed labor rights during his term first term and, unsurprisingly, continued to do so during his second. After Trump’s election, O’Brien was rewarded with the selection of his favorite candidateformer Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Republican of Oregon, as Secretary of Labor. She turned out to be a real hacker, plagued by scandals, and on Monday, she joins the procession outgoing cabinet officials – Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and now Chavez-DeRemer – deemed too corrupt, or perhaps (in Bondi’s case) not corrupt enough, to serve the most corrupt president in American history.
Chavez-DeRemer is by far the least known in this (notably all-female) cavalcade, probably because people rarely pay much attention to the Secretary of Labor. Its initial reception among unions was slightly favorable, according to AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. take note that she had been one of only three House Republicans to co-sponsor the Protection of the Right to Organize Act (PRO)which would expand the labor rights of private sector unions, and one of only eight to co-sponsor the Public Service Freedom of Negotiation Actwhich would do the same for public sector unions. It is encouraging to see some opposition to Chavez-DeRemer. in the business world and among conservative GOP lawmakers. “She’s one of them,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama. told Politico. “She’s pro-union.”
But it turned out that Tuberville (currently running for governor of Alabama) had little to worry about. During her confirmation hearing, Chavez-DeRemer intentionally hedged her support for the PRO Act, call the invoice “imperfect” and explicitly rejecting a critically important section that would overturn the state’s right-to-work laws. She also sidestepped the question of whether she would support raising the minimum wage from the current $7.25 hourly wage, in deference to Trump’s studied inscrutability on the issue. (In 2016, candidate Trump took so many contradictory positions on the minimum wage that The Washington Post published a guide for them; Trump in power effectively opposed any increase, particularly in cancelation a Biden era decree forcing federal contractors to raise their hourly minimum to $15.) Chavez-DeRemer demonstrated enough loyalty to Trump’s agenda that ultimately only three Republicans opposed it; Tuberville voted to confirm.
As secretary, Chavez-DeRemer had a poor record on enforcement, reducing, for example, the number of compliance actions concluded against wage and hour violations from an average of 21,000 under Biden to 17,000, and reducing the number of compliance actions against poor performers (“low-wage, high-violation industries”), dropping from an average of 842 under Biden to 649. Republican labor secretaries are rewarded for reducing enforcement and thus reducing the government burden on private businesses, so if Trump had considered Chavez-DeRemer’s record before accepting her resignation (he probably didn’t), he would have viewed it favorably. Chavez-DeRemer has also dutifully continued Trump’s policies. deregulation programincluding one potentially disastrous proposed rule opening 401(k) plans to risky investments, which is actually a private equity bailout– and a particularly high priority for Trump.
What ultimately tripped up Chavez-DeRemer was a stunning series of so-called personal ethical lapses. In January, the New York PostIt’s Josh Christenson reported that the Labor Department’s inspector general (former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, Republican of New York, a former police detective) was investigating an “explosive complaint” alleging that Chavez-DeRemer had an “inappropriate” relationship with a department subordinate, and (according to the Job) had “hosted his alleged lover at least three times in his Washington apartment and twice in his hotel room during a trip.” The hotel room was at the Red Rocks Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, the Job‘s Christenson, and the Job had photos and videos showing them there.
The complaint, according to Christenson, indicated that the hotel had additional footage of the illicit couple (not seen by the Job) engaging in “unprofessional behavior” and that the alleged lovebirds visited Las Vegas not once but twice in 2025. The alleged toy minion (who was later reported to be a member of Chavez-DeRemer’s security detail; look for the bodyguard!) told Christenson, “I have lawyers, so I’m not going to talk to you. I have nothing to say.”
According to the report, the complaint further alleged that Chavez-DeRemer committed “travel fraud” by directing his chief of staff, Jihun Han, as well as his deputy chief of staff, Rebecca Wright, to “fabricate” justifications for official travel so that Chavez-DeRemer could visit family or friends. THE Job further reported that Chavez-DeRemer was a “boss from hell” who made her subordinates run personal errands for her.
Oh, and the complaint said Chavez-DeRemer was observed drinking during the workday in her office, where she kept a stash of champagne, bourbon and Kahlua. Alcohol consumption is the emerging leitmotif of stories about members of the Trump cabinet!
Three days after Christenson’s explosive story, Politico’s Nick Niedzwiadek reported that Han and Wright had been placed on administrative leave. Later, Chavez-DeRemer’s bodyguard and his precursor were also placed on leave.
If you think that’s ridiculous, you haven’t heard anything yet. THE JobChristenson’s followed up with a report that Chavez-DeRemer took his subordinates to an Oregon strip club while he was out of town on official business. SO The New York Times followed by an even more heinous story that “at least two female staffers” at the Department of Labor said Chavez-DeRemer’s anesthesiologist husband, Shawn DeRemer “sexually assaulted them” through inappropriate touching. In one case, the TimesAccording to sources, Shawn was recorded on security cameras kissing one of the women for an extended period of time. The Washington Metropolitan Police Department was called and filed a police report noting “sexual contact against one’s will.” Unsurprisingly, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro decided not to prosecute (probably too busy trying to bring Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to justice), but Shawn was at least banned from the building.
At one point, Dad also allegedly participated in this act, according to a March 4 report by Rebecca Davis O’Brien from The New York Times. Richard Chavez, according to O’Brien, texted a young Department of Labor employee (we’ll call her YFL): “I hear you around town. I wish you’d let me know. I could have found excuses to come out and show you around. Please keep this private.” YFL then responded, “That will do the trick, no need to worry!” to which Richard replied: “When are you leaving and where are you staying.”
A few weeks later, YFL messaged not Richard but Shawn: “I had so much fun traveling with an LCD and being in the moment for everything!! I promise from now on I will check in.” To which Shawn replied, “You better. I felt forgotten. I thought you were still in church repenting after being exposed to the demon state of Oregon.”
Chavez-DeRemer was scheduled to meet with the inspector general on Tuesday for an extended interview. Instead, she resigned. This seems to me to be an excellent decision on his part.
