One week after Oregon Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer conceded the loss of her seat in Congress, president-elect Donald Trump asked her to take an even bigger job: cabinet member in his second presidential administration. Trump announced he’s nominating her for Secretary of Labor in a Nov. 22 post on his social media platform Truth Social.
The nomination came after Chavez-DeRemer impressed Trump at a meeting in his residence in Palm Beach, Florida. And her invitation to Mar-a-Lago came after days of advocacy by Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. O’Brien broke the mold in July by accepting Trump’s invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 1.3-million-member Teamsters union then opted to stay out of the presidential race, endorsing neither Trump nor Kamala Harris. So did the International Association of Fire Fighters. After it became clear Chavez-DeRemer had lost her campaign for re-election, the Teamsters and Fire Fighters unions encouraged the Trump team to nominate her, according to a person familiar with some of the behind-the-scenes advocacy. O’Brien also made a public case for Chavez-DeRemer in a Nov. 21 op-ed in the online magazine Compact.
“Trump has workers to thank for his decisive victory,” O’Brien wrote. “By nominating Rep. Chavez-DeRemer, he can show that he stands by the people who are sending him back to the Oval Office come January.”
Chavez-DeRemer is the daughter of a Teamster. And during her one two-year term representing Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District, she worked to build relationships with organized labor, more than almost any other Republican in Congress. She helped unions in dozens of small ways, like signing letters of support for UPS Teamsters and voting on bills and amendments in line with union recommendations. She also signed on as a cosponsor of symbolically important bills such as the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO Act), which would reform America’s labor law to make it easier for workers to join a union and get a first contract.
That pro-labor record appears to make her nomination a big departure from Trump’s first term, when all three of his labor secretary nominees were drawn from business:
His first pick was fast food CEO Andrew Puzder, a foe of raising the minimum wage who had raised money for the Trump campaign. Puzder withdrew before being confirmed after it was revealed that he’d employed an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper.
Trump’s next appointee, Alexander Acosta, served two years, but resigned after it came to light that as a federal prosecutor he had agreed not to pursue charges against sex trafficking hedge fund investor Jeffrey Epstein.
The third was corporate lawyer Eugene Scalia, son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Given that line-up, Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination “could signal a break from the GOP’s traditionally adversarial stance toward unions,” said the Wall Street Journal.
“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 announcing the nomination. “I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for Americans workers, to expand training and apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our manufacturing jobs.”
“Thank you for this opportunity, President Trump!” Chavez-DeRemer said on x.com. “Working-class Americans finally have a lifeline with you in the White House. It’s time to bring our economy to new heights and secure a prosperous future for all hardworking Americans.”
Chavez-DeRemer declined an interview request from the Labor Press, with a spokesperson saying she wouldn’t be available for interviews for the time being. It’s not uncommon for nominees to go silent until the Senate confirmation process is complete.
Labor unions reacted positively to her nomination.
“Lori Chavez-DeRemer has built a pro-labor record in Congress,” said a statement attributed to AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. The statement praised Chavez-DeRemer for cosponsoring the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would guarantee union rights for state and local public employees and overturn the Supreme Court’s Janus decision. But the statement also cast doubt on her ability to protect workers rights: “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.”
Teamsters President O’Brien thanked Trump in a post to x.com “for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for US Labor Secretary.”
A SWIFT RISE FOR THE FORMER MAYOR OF HAPPY VALLEY
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, left with Donald Trump and Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, is the first Oregonian to be named to a cabinet position since Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt was confirmed as Transportation Secretary for President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
The Secretary of Labor oversees the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), a sprawling agency with nearly 17,000 employees and more than two dozen divisions. DOL enforces minimum wage and overtime laws, oversees state unemployment insurance programs, and dispenses workforce training grants. It also encompasses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, among other sub-agencies.
DOL has repeatedly reversed direction in recent decades in how it interprets labor laws passed by Congress. When a Democrat takes control of the White House, the DOL uses its administrative powers to expand workers rights, and vice versa when Republicans come to power.
For example, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees be paid “time-and-a-half” when they work overtime, and it has exceptions for salaried employees like managers. But an employer can’t get out of paying overtime just by calling someone management and paying them on a salaried basis. DOL sets a salary threshold: Below it, a worker can’t be considered a manager who’s exempt from overtime. President Barack Obama’s DOL tried to raise the threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 a year, but business groups sued, saying it was unreasonable to double the threshold, and a federal judge blocked it. Then the Trump DOL knocked the increase down to $35,568 a year. President Joe Biden’s DOL adjusted that for inflation, and it reached $43,888; Biden’s DOL then proposed to raise it to $58,656 as of January 2025, but once again, business groups sued and a Texas judge put the increase on hold.
As Shuler alluded, it’s not clear how much latitude Chavez-DeRemer herself will have to make policy. Cabinet members carry out the policies of the administrations they serve.
Before becoming labor secretary, Chavez-DeRemer will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Trump will take the oath of office Jan. 20, but it could be several months before the Senate holds a hearing and a confirmation vote.
A union-backed Republican
In her campaign for a second term, Lori Chavez-DeRemer was endorsed by more unions than her Democratic opponent Janelle Bynum – 17 unions in all: IAFF, IBEW Local 48, Teamsters Joint Council 37, Elevator Constructors Local 23, Operating Engineers Local 701, Painters District Council 5, Ironworkers Local 29, Sheet Metal Local 16, UA Local 290, Carpenters, Flight Attendants, AFGE, Airline Pilots, BRS, MMP, MEBA, and SIU.
