WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon for the top job at the federal Labor Department, announcing the pick in a statement Friday evening.
Chavez-DeRemer currently represents Oregon's 5th Congressional District but was defeated in the Nov. 5 election by Democratic Oregon state Rep. Janelle Bynum in a close race that became one of the most expensive in the state and one of the most watched in the country.
Chavez-DeRemer attracted a notably large amount of labor support during the campaign, including the approval of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, which endorsed both her and Bynum. She was one of only three Republicans to co-sponsor of a version of the PRO Act, which would expand labor protections.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson touted Chavez-DeRemer's labor record when he visited Oregon to stump for her in the final weeks before the election. Politico reported earlier this week that Teamsters President Sean O'Brien was pushing the Trump team to consider Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Labor Department.
As a potential labor secretary, Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce and its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health, safety and ability to unionize, and employers' rights to fire employees, among other responsibilities.
“Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success - Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!” Trump said in a statement.
Chavez-DeRemer thanked Trump in a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the announcement.
"Working-class Americans finally have a lifeline with you in the White House," she wrote. "It's time to bring our economy to new heights and secure a prosperous future for all hardworking Americans."
Local endorsements
UFCW Local 555 issued a statement shortly after Trump's announcement, describing Chavez-DeRemer as "well qualified" for the position and adding that the union chose to issue a dual endorsement of her and Bynum "because of their respective pro-worker histories."
National Education Association President Becky Pringle also quickly released a statement highlighting what she described as several pro-labor and pro-education votes that Chavez-DeRemer cast while in Congress and said her record "stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump's anti-worker, anti-union record."
"Educators and working families across the nation will be watching Lori Chavez-DeRemer as she moves through the confirmation process and hope to hear a pledge from her to continue to stand up for workers and students as her record suggests, not blind loyalty to the Project 2025 agenda," she wrote in part.
Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement Friday, "I look forward to carefully evaluating Representative Chavez-DeRemer’s qualifications leading up to her hearing and a thorough vetting process."
Murray added that as an original author of the PRO Act, she was pleased to see Chavez-DeRemer as a co-sponsor.
How Chavez-DeRemer got here, and where she can go
Jim Moore, politics professor at Pacific University, expressed mild surprise at the nomination.
"This is not an area she is known for," he said.
Though Chavez-DeRemer had the backing of local labor unions and supporters, Moore has a different take.
"I think the main thing that happened was not her local support, which was good for a Republican but not great. Republicans are not where labor unions are these days.
"The issue was the Teamsters at the national level sat out making an endorsement in this presidential election for the first time in a long time. And in doing so, it was clear that the head of the Teamsters — who spoke at the Republican convention and then asked to speak at the Democratic convention, and they said no — but it was clear that the majority of the 1.3 million Teamsters were more Trump voters than they were Biden voters.
"And so, this is clearly a reward to the Teamsters for what they did in the election for not endorsing Biden, sitting it out and allowing Trump to really have access to those voters."
Chavez-DeRemer won Oregon's 5th District in 2022, flipping the U.S. House seat to Republicans for the first time in over two decades. The district's borders were shifted substantially during redistricting after the 2020 census, and the new political environment proved less hospitable for moderate Democrat Kurt Schrader, who was ousted in the 2022 primary by challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner.
Chavez-DeRemer defeated McLeod-Skinner in the 2022 general election, but the district quickly became a priority target for Democrats in 2024. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district, though the largest share of the district's voters are unaffiliated.
The outcome of the 2024 election was very close; Bynum took an early lead on election night, but the margin was narrow, and the race was considered too close to call until three days later.
Still, Moore called Trump's Cabinet nomination a "big deal" for Chavez-DeRemer, who could use this as a political steppingstone.
"If Chavez-DeRemer plays this right, she could come back and be the first Republican (in Oregon) in a while to have a chance to win a governorship, or when Ron Wyden or Jeff Merkley retires, to win a Senate seat. If she doesn't, this is the cap of her political career," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.