Top-Level Labor Dept. Staffers Placed on Admin. Leave Pending OIG Investigation of Sec. Chavez-DeRemer – RedState
There’s a bit of a shakeup at the United States Department of Labor, and it’s coming straight from the top. According to reports, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation was opened into Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and the investigation resulted in the arrest of some senior Department of Labor officials. It remains to be seen whether this OIG investigation will disrupt President Donald Trump’s “American Workers First” approach and affordability.
Several Labor Department employees have been placed on leave pending an inspector general’s investigation into allegations of misconduct by Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, according to two people familiar with the matter.
At least one additional staff member was temporarily relieved of duty after two longtime aides were placed on administrative leave earlier this week as part of the investigation, the sources said.
Learn more: Vice President JD Vance campaigns on the issue of affordability and inflation in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Watch: Trump administration reclaims Labor Day
Chief of Staff Jihun Han and Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright are the two “long-time aides” who were placed on leave amid reports of their involvement in facilitating Chavez-DeRemer’s alleged misconduct, including travel fraud and abuse of power.
Chavez-DeRemer, 57, was accused in a complaint filed with the DOL Office of Inspector General in December of committing “travel fraud” by forcing the two aides to “invent” official trips to places where the secretary could spend personal time or visit family and friends.
These favored destinations included Oregon, where she is from and where she first ran for Congress in 2022; Arizona, where she and her husband have a home; Michigan, where his daughter resides; and Las Vegas, which she traveled to at least four times in 2025, according to the complaint and travel schedules.
Of his more than 50 official trips outside Washington as labor secretary in 2025, at least 10 were to one of these locations, according to travel schedules.
The charge of abuse of power involves an “inappropriate” relationship with a subordinate. The NY Post claimed that this subordinate was hosted at Chavez-DeRemer’s Washington home and hotel during several of the Labor secretary’s trips in 2025.
The subordinate has since been sidelined from his regular duties since the IG investigation began, sources added, after previously declining to comment on the allegations and saying he had lawyers whose contact details he did not provide.
Other allegations in the OIG complaint accuse Chavez-DeRemer “of being a ‘boss from hell’ by forcing his assistants to run personal errands or perform other menial tasks while they are at work.” The complaint also accuses the secretary of being a daily drinker.
Chief of Staff Jihun Han is a Chavez-DeRemer loyalist. He credits his start in politics to Chavez-DeRemer and campaigned for her in 2016 and 2022. When Chavez-DeRemer won the congressional seat in 2022, Han moved to Washington as part of his congressional team.
[Han] jumped onto the campaign trail with Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in her bid for a House seat in 2022, the culmination of a nearly decades-long relationship between the two. After winning the congressional race, Jihun moved with Rep. Chavez-DeRemer to Washington, D.C., first as a transition aide and then as chief of staff in early 2023.
Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright has a less clannish involvement with Chavez-DeRemer, but was actively involved in the Oregon Republican caucus during Chavez-DeRemer’s 2022-2024 term in the House of Representatives. Wright worked as Chavez-DeRemer’s 5th Congressional District manager in Oregon, then acted as deputy campaign manager for Republican Christine Drazan’s 2022 state gubernatorial campaign before reaching the congressman’s post.
The inspector general is investigating whether Chavez-Remer’s chief of staff, Jihun Han, and his deputy, Rebecca Wright, engaged in “travel fraud” by hosting work events for their boss as an excuse for a personal trip, the sources said.
NEW: On Friday, I announced that Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, her chief of staff Jihun Han, and her deputy chief of staff Rebecca Wright are all under investigation by their department’s inspector general’s office.
Both Han and Wright have been placed on administrative leave…
–Josh Christenson (@jchristenson_) January 12, 2026
It’s curious that the least visible and least vocal member of the Trump administration’s cabinet is the one who could be on the chopping block. Democrats and the left have their sights set on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and border czar Tom Homan. But the Secretary of Labor? This seems like a small change.
Dive Deeper: Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing showed unipartyism aligning
Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer sought support from unions while claiming to defend small businesses
In April 2025, Chavez-DeRemer embarked on a 50-state “America Works” listening tour to promote Trump’s pro-worker policies and has made 33 visits so far. It is unclear whether this OIG investigation will put an end to this DOL initiative, but as of this week, the Secretary of Labor was still promoting her travels on the Secretary of Labor’s X account.
This week I was looking forward to hitting the road again in Fargo, North Dakota with @GovArmstrong And @AppliedDigital.
It was great to tour the site of Applied Digital’s new AI data center and see how President Trump’s agenda is creating the jobs of tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/GrLH6P2o9j
– Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer (@SecretaryLCD) January 17, 2026
If the OIG investigation proves inconclusive and President Trump is content to leave Chavez-DeRemer in his role, then it could all be smoke without fire. Trump has bigger battles to fight, and this one may just be a manufactured irritation.
The difficulty of replacing a Republican labor secretary who enjoys the support of business groups and unions works in his favor. As a Latina from a suburban Oregon district, she came to represent the broad coalition that carried Trump to a second term. And with a slim Republican majority in the Senate, the president won’t be eager to jump into a confirmation battle.
“He doesn’t want to try to find someone who is acceptable to his constituents in the unions, as well as his management interests,” said Joseph Schmitt, a management-side attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis PA. “He managed to thread that needle once.”
For now, the Labor secretary’s position alongside the president appears unshakeable. White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said Chavez-DeRemer had the “full support” of Trump.
During Thursday’s press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also affirmed Trump’s support for the Labor Secretary.
The White House referred NBC News to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement Thursday that Trump was aware of the investigation and “stands with the secretary.” But she could not confirm whether the president had spoken to Chavez-DeRemer about the investigation.
“He thinks she’s doing a tremendous job at the Department of Labor on behalf of American workers,” Leavitt said during a press briefing Thursday.
Political observers and analysts on both sides are apathetic about where this IG investigation could go or about the fate of Chavez-DeRemer if the allegations prove true.
In a recent podcast, Hyma Moore, former regional communications director for the Biden 2020 campaign, said that “she hasn’t really done much to prove” that she supports Trump’s economic policies; my colleague at sister site Townhall, Larry O’Connor, agreed, saying “I think she’s done,” while adding that “She really has no constituency to protect her.”
WATCH:
“What is Halperin’s 14th Rule of Washington?” ” Request @MarkHalperin while discussing Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is reportedly under investigation for misconduct. The rule, Mark says, is: “If an investigative story that was invented gets from the New York Post to… pic.twitter.com/YBk108K9Hi
– 2WAY (@2waytvapp) January 14, 2026
The consensus: Chavez-DeRemer is on his way out, but no one will shed any tears. Not exactly popcorn-worthy, but worth tuning in for.
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