Punching In: Labor Department Moves on From Chavez-DeRemer

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers

LCD’s Face Erased From DOL | Dems Push Labor Talks

Parker Purifoy: The Department of Labor wasted little time in moving on from Lori Chavez-DeRemer, removing her portraits and filling key positions after her departure.

Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling took the reins as acting secretary, and Courtney Walter, former senior counsel to the secretary, moved into the chief of staff post.

Walter worked in the DOL solicitor’s office during the first Trump administration and then as an attorney at Mitchell Sandler PLLC.

Jihun Han, Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, resigned in March during an investigation by the department’s inspector general into misconduct by the secretary. Her deputy chief of staff, Rebecca Wright, also resigned at that time.

Those posts remained vacant until Chavez-DeRemer resigned last week.

Leadership also removed official portraits of the former secretary from the Frances Perkins Building in downtown Washington, DC, the morning after she resigned, according to a DOL employee and a photo reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

The House Appropriations Committee has also canceled a hearing on the DOL’s fiscal year 2027 budget scheduled for Monday that Chavez-DeRemer was supposed to attend.

The hearings would have been the first opportunity lawmakers had to put Chavez-DeRemer on the record about the inspector general’s investigation, and several lawmakers had indicated they were eager to ask her about it.

Chavez-DeRemer resigned last Monday after newly released details of misconduct allegations against her husband and father, on top of the other accusations, caused union and business leaders to turn against her.

It’s unclear if Sonderling will sit before congressional committees to discuss the DOL’s budget request of $9.9 billion, a 27% reduction from the current fiscal year’s budget.

It is also unknown whether DOL Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito will release a report from the office’s investigation into the former secretary. The IG’s office can compel current employees to sit for interviews, but it doesn’t have the same power to compel former employees. An inspector general report also isn’t required to be released to the public unless it contains a recommendation for corrective action.

The US Department of Labor headquarters in Washington.

George Weykamp: House Democrats are trying to demand a vote on a bill to accelerate labor contract talks by setting mandatory bargaining timelines for union negotiations.

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) filed a discharge petition last week that, if it gathers enough signatures, would force a vote on the Faster Labor Contracts Act—a union-backed bipartisan bill that seeks to address stalled labor negotiations between unions and management.

It takes 461 days on average for a bargaining unit to get its first contract ratified, according to Bloomberg Law data compiled from 553 first contracts from 2005-2025.

Unions and employers could to go to mediation after 90 days of bargaining if the bill becomes law. After another 30 days, the parties would be sent to binding arbitration to decide an initial two-year contract.

Norcross first introduced the bill in September along with Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn). The bill has 65 Democratic and 17 Republican co-sponsors.

“This is a bill that’s supported by members from both parties on the left, right, and center,” Norcross, who co-chairs the Congressional Labor Caucus, said in a statement. “Since Speaker Johnson won’t bring this bipartisan bill to the floor for a vote, we’re left with no choice but to file a discharge petition.”

Unions have had some success in recent years at winning organizing elections at large retailers—including Starbucks Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. But those successes have rarely turned into contract victories.

“The game is rigged. Employers, especially the largest and wealthiest, are afforded every opportunity to delay and drag out this process,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said at a press conference last week announcing the petition.

While bipartisan, the bill faces steep odds in the Republican-controlled legislature. In order to force a vote in the House, Norcross’ petition needs 218 signatures. As of Friday, it has just 145. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) is the sole Republican signatory.

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have introduced a similar version of the bill in the Senate.

We’re punching out. Daily Labor Report subscribers please check in for updates during the week, and feel free to reach out to us.