Trump picked ‘toxic’ Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor Secretary: critics

President-elect Trump’s nomination for labor secretary is a “toxic” anti-conservative RINO with cozy ties to unions, outraged critics told The Post Saturday. 

During her single term on the Hill, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) has backed a laundry list of boiler-plate liberal policies at odds with longstanding Republican orthodoxies, including strengthening unions’ efforts to organize the private sector, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and championing expanding government employee unions. 

“The signaling effect alone from this nomination would be that the Trump administration is not serious about deregulation or economic growth,” Ken Girardin, labor expert at the conservative Empire Center for Public Policy, told The Post. 

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor. Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
President Trump surprised many of his allies by choosing a pro-union nominee to be Secretary of Labor. Zuffa LLC

One of the biggest red flags for critics is the fact that Chavez-DeRemer was one of only three House Republicans who co-sponsored the radical, union-backed PRO Act.

The bill, which failed to pass out of the House in 2023, would have banned right-to-work laws in over two dozen states, which allow employees to opt of paying union dues; devastated the gig economy by restricting independent contractor classifications; and forced employers to hand over their workers’  personal information.

“In this woman’s America, every worker would have to have a boss and pay the union for the privilege of working,” said Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. 

“This is an outrage, This is not mildly bad. This is a huge thing that she voted for.”

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been cheered on by labor advocates. Getty Images

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien — who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January and spoke at the Republican National Convention despite not endorsing him in his 2024 White House run — pushed for Chavez-DeRemer to clinch Cabinet post, a Trump world insider said.  

“Sean O’Brien of the Teamsters did that,” the insider said. “Trump and O’Brien are closer than people understand.”

Union support was a crucial factor for Trump’s election win in November. Despite the Teamsters refusal to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, internal polling conducted by the union found nearly 60% of its rank-and-file nationwide backed Trump.

“Rank and file labor was an important part of his coalition, but I don’t think [Chavez-DeRemer] is any good at all. People are very worried about her,” a person close to Trump said. “Business won’t like her, Chamber of Commerce won’t like her. This was not a great appointment.”

O’Brien thanked Trump Friday after the nomination “for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for US Labor Secretary.”

“Nearly a year ago, you joined us for a [Teamsters] roundtable and pledged to listen to workers and find common ground to protect and respect labor in America,” he continued. “You put words into action. Now let’s grow wages and improve working conditions nationwide.”

Chavez-DeRemer was one of three House Republicans to support the union-backed PRO Act. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Lefty teacher’s union boss Randi Weingarten also cheered the pick, saying on X she hoped “it means the Trump admin will actually respect collective bargaining and workers’ voices from Teamsters to teachers.”

Chavez-Deremer, 56, who was narrowly defeated in her re-election bid by Democrat Janelle Bynum, has received the full-throated support from House Republican leadership for her Labor Secretary nomination, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN). 

A GOP insider warned that her pro-union issues are certain to complicate her Senate confirmation. 

“There are going to be a lot of Republicans who can’t vote for this because it’s toxic for them,” the insider said. “The anti-right to work stuff. That is toxic for so many Republicans.”