Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will leave job
WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving the Trump administration, the White House announced on April 20.
He is the third Cabinet member to leave this year. They are all women. His exit comes amid allegations of misconduct and after multiple outlets reported that an investigation into his leadership was well underway.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said: in a post X He said Chavez-DeRemer will leave the administration to take a job in the private sector. He didn’t say where he was.
“He has done an outstanding job in his role protecting American workers, enforcing fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives,” Cheung wrote.
More: Lori Chavez-DeRemer reportedly under investigation for misuse of funds
The deputy labor secretary, Keith Sonderling, will be the department’s acting head, he said. The announcement came days after the New York Times reported reported this The Labor Department’s investigation into her leadership included text messages that DeRemer’s husband and father allegedly sent to young female members of their staff.
His departure comes just weeks after Trump fired two other members of his cabinet: the former Attorney General Pam BondiFormer Secretary of Homeland Security, who left for an unspecified post in the private sector in early April Kristi NoemHe was appointed special envoy in March.
Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican representative from Oregon, was responsible for overseeing federal laws and regulations related to unionsworkplace conditions, such as job security and minimum wage, and other work-related issues.
The New York Post reported in january he was under investigation Maintaining an inappropriate relationship with subordinates, unnecessary travel on taxpayers’ dime, and drinking on the job. The Labor Department denied these allegations, and the White House said at the time that they were false.
More: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer faces civil rights complaints
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer departs after U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address during the Joint Session of Congress at the Capitol on February 24, 2026 in Washington, DC.
In April, the New York Times reported that three civil rights complaints had been filed against DeRemer by three women who worked in his office. The allegations included Chavez-DeRemer having staff run errands for him, including picking him up from dry cleaning and cleaning his apartment closet.
According to the newspaper, three of DeRemer’s employees and a member of the security team with whom he was accused of having an affair were forced to be fired following the allegations.
Her husband, Shawn, was also charged sexual harassment. He was reportedly banned from entering the Ministry of Labor headquarters after it was reported that he made unwanted sexual advances towards employees.
police department in Washington DC, He denied charging himself with a crime in February.
Who is Lori Chavez-DeRemer?
Senate confirms Chavez-DeRemer the country’s 30th minister of labor On March 10, 2025.
“Secretary Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster, is a successful small businesswoman and the first in her family to graduate from college.” Ministry of Labor website reader.
The 57-year-old is Dr. James, who founded an anesthesia management company and medical clinics in the Pacific Northwest. She is married to Shawn DeRemer. The couple shares twin daughters.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer speaks at the Ford Pro Accelerate event on September 30, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
She was the first female and Latino mayor of the city of Happy Valley from 2010 to 2018. southeast of Portland.
In 2022, Chavez-DeRemer was elected to the House of Representatives to represent Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. He served in the House of Representatives from 2023 to 2025. He became a candidate again in the 2024 elections, but loss with Democrat Janelle Bynum.
While serving in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer was one of three co-sponsors in the House of Representatives of a pro-union bill called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which aimed to expand job protections for people to organize and bargain in their workplaces.
Sonderling, his interim replacement, is also in charge of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency that funded the nation’s libraries and museums, that was shut down by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Contributed by Bill Poehler, Salem Statesman Journal
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Lori Chavez-DeRemer becomes the last Cabinet secretary to leave
