Trump picks Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his choice for Labor secretary

CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced the Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his choice to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Labor.

“Lori’s strong support from both the business and occupational health and safety communities will ensure that the Department of Labor can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our agenda for unprecedented national success – to make America richer, wealthier, stronger and more prosperous than ever before!” Trump said in a statement.

Chavez-DeRemer lost re-election to Oregon’s 5th District earlier this month.

Under the new Trump administration, the Labor Department is likely to take on a more pro-business agenda, given the president-elect’s larger goal of cutting bureaucratic red tape. Among other things, the agency oversees worker protection programs, enforces labor standards, and ensures compliance with overtime laws.

President Joe Biden’s Department of Labor was first headed by Marty Walsh, a former union leader and mayor of Boston. Julie Su, a civil rights attorney, has served as acting secretary of the department since Walsh left in 2023 to take a role with the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

In Trump’s first term, Alexander Acosta served as Secretary of Labor for the first two years. He was named when Trump’s first choice, Andy Puzder, then the CEO of the company that owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains, withdrew his nomination after facing challenges to his Senate confirmation.

Acosta, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, resigned after facing criticism for his role in negotiating the 2008 filing of Jeffrey Epstein as U.S. attorney in Miami. Acosta was replaced as labor secretary by Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who served for the rest of Trump’s first term.

This is a developing story and will be updated.