U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said he plans to support the Senate confirmation of Trump’s appointment of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor, KATU reported Jan. 27.
During Chavez-DeRemer’s two years in Congress as a Republican representing Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District, she worked to build relationships with organized labor, and ended up getting a sizable number of union endorsements. Now her nomination faces opposition from some Republican senators who criticize her having co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a bill in Congress to make it easier for workers to unionize and get a first contract. The bill would also end “right-to-work” — the section of federal labor law that lets states ban the requirement that union-represented workers pay dues.
“She was the most pro-labor Republican in the House of Representatives, and I plan to support her,” Merkley said.
Republicans have 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate, so Chavez-DeRemer will need Democratic support like Merkley’s if more than a few Republicans decline to support her. Oregon’s other senator, Democrat Ron Wyden, also spoke favorably of Chavez-DeRemer, KATU reported.
No date has been set yet for her confirmation hearing.
