Trump’s Labor Secretary Will Stand Out as a Moderate in a Cabinet of Right-Wing Hard-liners

A pro-union Republican, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is entering the government. She is considered moderate and wants to collaborate across party lines. But will she be allowed to?

The fall could have been bitter for Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The Republican lost her seat in the House of Representatives on Nov. 5 after a tough election campaign. The former mayor of a small town in Oregon had been in office for just two years and had been working toward this for so long. On top of that, she lost her seat at a moment that seemed opportune for her, with a red wave sweeping across the country on Election Day. Chavez-DeRemer’s district was one of the few that shifted to the left.

Now, thanks to Donald Trump, she can continue to pursue her career in Washington after all. The U.S. president-elect has picked her to serve as labor secretary in his administration, which comes as a surprise. While Trump is generally seeking candidates on the far right of the political spectrum, he has nominated a remarkably moderate woman in Chavez-DeRemer, 56.

She openly advocates for bipartisan collaboration “to solve our toughest problems, from child care to the homelessness crisis.”* Moreover, she took this unusual position in a country so polarized while serving on committees focused on infrastructure, agriculture and education. Her pro-union position has solidified her reputation. She emerged as one of only three Republicans who voted with the Democrats in favor of the unions’ most important pieces of legislation, which aimed to significantly bolster their bargaining power. During the election campaign, she therefore received support from trade unions, including the Teamsters, the powerful transport workers’ union which her father belonged to.

Elon Musk Is a Union Buster

Droves of workers have shifted their support to Trump in the past few years. Chavez-DeRemer intends to drive this trend forward as labor secretary, though she has not provided specific details. Trump promised to bring factories back to the U.S. with high tariffs, and to create millions of jobs.

However, it remains uncertain how much freedom Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer will have under billionaire Trump. During his first term in office, he significantly weakened trade unions. Although the working class benefited from his tax cuts, the super-rich benefited many times more. And Trump’s newest pal, Elon Musk, is a notorious union buster. During the election campaign, the two recorded an hours-long chat in which Trump himself even demanded that striking workers be fired immediately.

So, the fall is not likely to end too bitterly for Chavez-DeRemer. Whether things will work out well for American workers, however, is anything but certain.

*Editor’s Note: This quote, accurately translated, could not be independently verified.