Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump鈥檚 embattled labor secretary, stepped down Monday as multiple scandals and investigations closed in on her.
鈥淟abor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the administration to take a position in the private sector,鈥� Steven Cheung, a White House spokesperson, posted on the social platform X. He said that Keith Sonderling, the deputy secretary of labor, would serve as acting secretary.
Cheung said Chavez-DeRemer had 鈥渄one a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.鈥� But pressure on her mounted in recent weeks, as investigators and Congressional leaders homed in on questions about her conduct in office, and that of her aides and family members.
The Labor Department鈥檚 inspector general鈥檚 office is nearing the end of a monthslong investigation into a whistleblower鈥檚 allegations of professional misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer and her closest aides, including claims that she was having an affair with a member of her security team and that she used department resources for personal trips. Chavez-DeRemer was expected to be interviewed in the matter in the coming days.
Investigators spoke with several dozen witnesses, and uncovered evidence that Chavez-DeRemer and her staff abused federal spending limits on personal trips, several people familiar with the investigation said, including on fancy hotels, SUV rentals and meals. Four people have already left or been forced out of their jobs in connection with the investigation.
Investigators had also reviewed personal text messages sent to young female staff members by Chavez-DeRemer, her former deputy chief of staff, her husband and her father. The messages, reported last week by The New York Times, suggested that the secretary was drinking during the workday and raised questions about professionalism with her staff.
The likelihood of embarrassing details coming out through the inspector general inquiry was compounded by a parallel inquiry on Capitol Hill: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Judiciary Committee, demanded internal records and statements from the department in connection with the allegations.
Chavez-DeRemer鈥檚 husband has been barred from the department鈥檚 headquarters, after female staff members accused him of making unwanted sexual advances, including filing a police report.
Although police and prosecutors have said they would not bring criminal charges against him, the situation has continued to reverberate in the secretary鈥檚 office: In recent weeks, three claims of a hostile work environment were filed against Chavez-DeRemer with the department鈥檚 civil rights office.
Sonderling, a labor lawyer with a decade of government experience, has been effectively leading the Labor Department during Chavez-DeRemer鈥檚 tenure, multiple employees told the Times.
Chavez-DeRemer, 58, a one-term former Republican member of Congress from Oregon, was nominated to the secretary position with backing from the Teamsters union, whose president, Sean O鈥橞rien, had supported Trump鈥檚 2024 run.
But her leadership of the department left many employees frustrated and demoralized, including career staff and political appointees. Dozens described, in interviews with the Times, a toxic workplace characterized by an absentee secretary and hostile aides.
This article originally appeared in .
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