US Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has left US President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, according to a White House aide, after multiple allegations of abusing her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job.
Chavez-DeRemer is the third cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.
In a statement posted on social media, Chavez-DeRemer praised Trump and wrote, “I am proud that we made significant progress in advancing President Trump’s mission to bridge the gap between business and labour and always put the American worker first.”
Unlike other recent cabinet departures, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit was announced by a White House aide, not by the president on his social media account. Steven Cheung, who serves as advisor to Trump and the White House Director of Communications, announced the news late on Monday.
“Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” said Cheung in a post on X.
“She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labour practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”
Cheung added that Keith Sonderling, who is the incumbent deputy labour secretary, will assume Chavez-DeRemer’s position in an acting capacity in the meantime.
Allegations of misconduct
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure follows reports of serious misconduct that began to surface in January when it was revealed that she was under a series of investigations.
A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labour Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.
Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, and father, Richard Chavez, exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the outlet.
Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation reported.
Those messages were uncovered as part of a broader investigation into Chavez-DeRemer’s leadership. A complaint filed with the Labour Department’s inspector-general also accused her of a relationship with a subordinate.
The former labour secretary defended herself in her statement on Monday, accusing the media of being one-sided and of leading a campaign against her.
“The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump’s mission.”
Both the White House and the Labour Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged and when Chavez-DeRemer might be out of a job became something of an open question in Washington.
At least four Labour Department officials have already been forced from their jobs as the investigation progressed, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, as well as a member of her security detail, with whom she was accused of having the affair.
Aside from reports of wrongdoing in recent months, Chavez-DeRemer had been one of Trump’s more lower-profile cabinet picks, but took key steps to advance the administration’s deregulatory agenda during her tenure.
The Labour Department last year moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete.
The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines, drawing condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.
In her statement, she added, “While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers.”
Additional sources • AP