Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s choice for Labor secretary, backed away Wednesday from legislation she supported in the last Congress that would make it easier for workers to form unions.
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee pressed Chavez-DeRemer on her position on that bill during a confirmation hearing.
A House member from Oregon until she was defeated for reelection in November after one term, Chavez-DeRemer carefully answered questions from Democrats about how she would respond to efforts to obtain Labor Department data by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and special presidential adviser and billionaire Elon Musk.
Chavez-DeRemer was one of three Republicans who co-sponsored a bill that would expand protections for workers to organize and collectively bargain. Known as the PRO Act, it did not come to a vote.
Senate HELP Republicans, who opposed the bill, asserted it would force workers to join unions. Democrats voiced support, saying the legislation would empower employees.
Chavez-DeRemer said her co-sponsorship didn’t indicate she would have voted for it. Rather, it ensured she would be part of congressional efforts to update labor laws.
“The PRO Act was the bill to have those conversations, conversations that matter deeply to the people of Oregon’s 5th Congressional District,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “I recognize that that bill was imperfect, and I also recognize that I’m no longer representing Oregon as a lawmaker.”
She said her role would be different as Labor secretary.
“If confirmed, my job will be to implement President Trump’s policy vision and my guiding principle will be President Trump’s guiding principle: ensuring a level playing field for businesses, unions and, most importantly, the American worker,” Chavez-DeRemer told senators.
Senate HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., called the bill “pro-big union” and tried to pin down Chavez-DeRemer on whether she still supported it.
“I do not believe that the secretary of Labor should write the laws,” Chavez-DeRemer responded. “It will be up to Congress to write those laws. What I believe is the American worker deserves to be paid attention to. That was President Trump’s and [my] conversation in supporting the American worker, how important that is.”
Senate HELP ranking member Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said his review of Chavez-DeRemer’s record on labor issues shows that “in many respects, especially given the nature of the nominees that Mr. Trump has brought forth, it is very good.” He asked where she stands on the PRO Act.
“I support the American worker,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Sanders cut her off, drawing his own conclusion about her shifting position on the bill now that she’s an administration nominee.
“I’ve gathered you no longer support [the bill] is what I hear, but you support the American worker,” Sanders said. “That’s what everyone here will say.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said Chavez-DeRemer can appeal to unions as well as to working-class voters who helped propel Trump to a second term. He said he and Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters union, recommended Chavez-DeRemer for the Labor secretary position.
“People like Sean and I, who presented Lori to President Trump, said, ‘This is someone that we can work together with,’” Mullin said in introducing Chavez-DeRemer to the committee. “She is directly, uniquely positioned in the center. No company can survive without employees, and no employee can be hired without a company. It takes both sides to be in a boat rowing together in the same direction to be successful.”
Concerns about the Trump administration’s efforts to halt federal funding approved by Congress and the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency were raised by several Democrats.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Chavez-DeRemer whether she would commit to following appropriations laws.
“I will always follow the law and the Constitution,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “I do not believe the president is going to ask me to break the law.”
Murray also asked Chavez-DeRemer about the DOGE team’s access to the Labor Department’s information system. Murray noted that Musk’s companies have been under investigation for alleged violations of labor laws and that getting into the department’s networks also could expose employment and other data.
“Just to make this abundantly clear, Elon Musk is now in a position to use his unelected role to use confidential government data to advance his own corporate interests while suppressing his competitors,” Murray said.
Murray asked Chavez-DeRemer whether she would protect the private information housed at the Labor Department.
“If confirmed, I commit to you that I will always protect the Department of Labor,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
“I have not been read into what DOGE is doing at the Department of Labor,” she said later in the hearing.
Chavez-DeRemer also was pressed by Democrats on Trump’s firing of two National Labor Relations Board members, leaving the independent agency without a quorum and unable to function.
Chavez-DeRemer said repeatedly that Trump has the authority to exert executive power. But she also gave a nod to the NLRB.
“It has a role to play, and I respect that,” she said.
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