Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer Resigns During Internal Probe (2)

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned after months of misconduct allegations, leaving the Trump administration without a key connection to organized labor.

White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung announced her departure Monday, saying she has “done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

Chavez-DeRemer has taken a job in the private sector, Cheung said.

Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling will take the reins as acting labor secretary, he said.

Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation, a little over a year after she was confirmed to the post, comes amid a Labor Department inspector general investigation into her conduct and travel that has so far resulted in the ousting of three of her closest aides. NOTUS first reported her resignation.

Sonderling has spent almost a decade in policymaking positions at the DOL and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He has pushed the usage of DOL opinion letters and his vision for tapping into registered apprentices to staff the AI infrastructure boom in the US.

Sonderling thanked Chavez-DeRemer Monday for leading the department in a social media post.

“We will keep up the fight to put American workers first,” he said, also thanking President Donald Trump for appointing him acting secretary.

Trump has replaced several members of his cabinet recently. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were both replaced after reportedly falling out of favor with the president.

Chavez-DeRemer’s Chief of Staff Jihun Han and Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright resigned in early March. Then the secretary’s director of advance Melissa Robey said she was wrongfully fired several weeks later, after being questioned about her travels with Chavez-DeRemer.

Chavez-DeRemer was accused of fabricating work trips so she could spend time with family and friends, having an inappropriate relationship with the security guard, taking staffers to a strip club in Oregon, and drinking in the office.

The secretary’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, was also banned from the DOL headquarters in Washington, DC after he allegedly sexually assaulted at least two female staffers. DC’s Metropolitan Police Department conducted a brief investigation of the situation but ultimately federal prosecutors declined to press charges.

The probe of Chavez-DeRemer has largely overshadowed policy work at the department, which has carried on as the secretary traveled on her year-long, 50-state America at Work tour.

“I am proud that we made significant progress in advancing President Trump’s mission to bridge the gap between business and labor and always put the American worker first,” she said in a post on X. “While my time serving in the administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers. I am looking forward to what the future has in store as I depart for the private sector.”

DeRemer is the second Trump Labor Department head to step down from the role. Alex Acosta, former labor secretary during Trump’s first administration, resigned in July 2019 after facing scrutiny for granting Jeffrey Epstein a plea deal when he was a US district attorney in Southern Florida.