President-elect Donald Trump has named Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) as his choice to be the next Secretary of Labor. The first-term Congresswoman is an unconventional choice for a Republican administration in view of her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 20), legislation that favors organized labor.
Rep. Chavez-DeRemer has served as a City Council member and as Mayor in Happy Valley, Oregon, near Portland. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, where she serves on three committees: the Education and Workforce Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. She lost her bid for re-election earlier this month.
Chavez-DeRemer has a degree in business administration from California State University at Fresno. She and her husband co-founded an anesthesia management company and opened several medical clinics in the Pacific Northwest.
Sean O’Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has endorsed her nomination.