Trump labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigns amid misconduct investigation

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, wrote on social media. “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 is the third cabinet member – all women – to depart during the president’s second term, following homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and attorney general Pam Bondi. She wrote on the X social media platform: “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime.”

But Chavez-DeRemer’s exit comes after she became entangled in a string of political and personal controversies. The labor secretary and her close aides are currently under investigation by the department’s inspector general over allegations of professional misconduct.

These include claims that Chavez-DeRemer had an affair with a member of her security detail, kept a “stash” of alcohol in her office and used government resources for personal travel, while her aides allegedly sought to channel grants towards politically connected figures, the New York Times reported in March.

The inspector general is also reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members, another Times report said last week. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper.

The scandals did not end there. The secretary’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, an anesthesiologist, was barred from the department’s headquarters after allegations by at least two female staff members that he had sexually assaulted them. The women told department officials that Shawn DeRemer had touched them inappropriately at the department’s building on Constitution Avenue in Washington.

His lawyer rejected the claims, suggesting they form part of an effort to force his wife from office. Police and prosecutors declined to pursue charges. But the inspector general’s investigation was believed to be nearing its conclusion and at least four department officials had been forced from their jobs as it progressed.

John Kennedy, a Republican senator from Louisiana, said on Monday: “I think the secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning.”

Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, was previously a Republican congresswoman from Oregon. She had support from trade unions in her district but lost her 2024 reelection bid after one term in office.

Her nomination by Trump was welcomed by unions sceptical of the president’s second term agenda for workers. In March last year the Senate confirmed Chavez-DeRemer 67-32 with more than a dozen Democrats joining Republicans in backing her.

On Monday, Chavez-DeRemer wrote on X: “At the Department of Labor, 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. We created new pathways to mortgage-paying jobs, prepared workers to excel in the age of AI, took steps to lower prescription drug costs, promoted retirement security, and so much more.”

But during her tenure, the administration cancelled millions of dollars in international grants that a labor department division administered to combat child and slave labor around the world, ending their work that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades.

The department also moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete. The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home care workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines. The effort drew condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.

The proposed changes also included eliminating a requirement that employers provide adequate lighting for construction sites and seat belts for agriculture workers in most employer-provided transportation.

Cheung said Keith Sonderling would take on the role of acting secretary of labor.

The Associated Press contributed reporting