Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned on Monday, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Her tenure has been plagued by multiple scandals, an investigation into allegations that the secretary was engaged in an extramarital affair with a member of her security team and accusations of inappropriate behavior, like drinking on the job.
Multiple people have resigned from the agency amid the ongoing internal investigation.
A Labor Department spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. But White House Communications Director Steven Cheung confirmed Chavez-DeRemer’s departure.
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“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector. 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,” Cheung wrote in a post on X.
Cheung announced that Keith Sonderling will take Chavez-DeRemer’s place as acting secretary of labor, though it’s unclear who the president will select as her formal replacement.
Chavez-DeRemer’s exit marks the third Cabinet secretary to be removed since January, in a soft shake-up of officials ahead of the midterm elections. All three ousted secretaries were women.
A source close to the president told NOTUS last week that the White House viewed Chavez-DeRemer as an effective spokesperson for the president’s economic message and implementer of workforce policy. But the tales of the labor secretary’s alleged scandals had become palace intrigue among people close to and inside of the White House.
Two Republicans who speak with President Donald Trump told NOTUS they expected him to pull the trigger on removing Chavez-DeRemer on Wednesday, when she was due for what was expected to be a bruising hearing in Congress. Some inside the White House anticipated Democrats at the hearing would focus on Chavez-DeRemer’s alleged transgressions.
Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in last March. She had served in the House, representing Oregon’s 5th Congressional District for one term, before losing reelection in 2024 and then taking a role in Trump’s Cabinet.
She was confirmed in a 67-32 vote, with several Republicans — including Sens. Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell and Ted Budd — voting against her confirmation. More than a dozen Democrats chose to back her.
Last Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the Labor Department’s investigation was reviewing texts and requests from Chavez-DeRemer, her family and her top aides to younger staff at the department.
Chavez-DeRemer’s father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a powerful labor union. During her time in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would make it easier for employees to unionize and supported collective bargaining.
Under her leadership, however, the Labor Department began the process of repealing or rewriting various workplace regulations, calling them “obsolete.” The moves drew widespread criticism and sparked concern from union leaders. At the time, Chavez-DeRemer said it was part of an effort to “slash the red tape of any department across the federal government.”
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