Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Amid Allegations and Policy Rollbacks

On April 25 2026 Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned after investigations into an alleged affair, travel-fund misuse, and grant-steering. Her husband was barred from the department over sexual-assault allegations. Exit follows resignations of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Boston Herald

Chavez-DeRemer was nominated in early 2025 with support; President Trump and Teamsters president Sean O’Brien praised the nomination. The department launched a July 2025 deregulation plan that removed overtime and minimum-wage protections for home-care and domestic workers, rolled back farm-worker standards, and withdrew a rule barring sub-minimum wages for disabled workers. A Trump portrait was added to the headquarters.

The GuardianBoston Herald

The department cut about 20 percent of its workforce, eliminated millions in grants, and faced a sharply reduced budget, contributing to low morale among career staff.

The Guardian

AFGE vice-president Omar Algeciras condemned labeling staff as “deep state,” noting employees keep the agency operating and that Chavez-DeRemer never signed the harassment-policy statement. The Department of Labor declined comment; the Teamsters declined comment.

The Guardian

Cathy Creighton called the secretary’s actions an “anti-worker agenda,” citing Trump portrait and protections. Congressional labor caucus co-chairs Donald Norcross, Mark Pocan, Steven Horsford and Debbie Dingell warned policies left workers vulnerable to injury, wage theft and exploitation. Leaders condemned social-media posts as echoing Nazi rhetoric; staffer was moved to Homeland Security.

The Guardian

Staff said morale plummeted after budget cuts and intimidation, including a memo threatening workers for speaking to media. A whistleblower alleged drinking during office hours, an affair with a security guard, and travel-fraud schemes that disguised vacations as trips.

Boston Herald

Inspector-general report remains unreleased, leaving travel-fraud and grant-steering claims unverified. Allegations of the secretary’s husband’s sexual assault are unconfirmed. The Department of Labor has not responded to comment requests.

The Guardian

• “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” — Lori Chavez-DeRemer

The Guardian

• “Labeling these workers as ‘deep state’ dismisses the mission and the people who carry it out every day,” — Omar Algeciras, AFGE Local 2391

The Guardian

• “Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer sat by as her department’s budget was slashed, as worker protections for other agencies were dismantled, supported the Trump administration’s attempt to annihilate the federal workforces’ unions and placed a three-story portrait of the president on the [labor department] building,” — Cathy Creighton

The Guardian

• “Secretary Chavez-DeRemer advanced the administration’s anti-worker agenda, facing removal only for the scandals she was involved in, and not the decisions she made that reduced oversight of workplace safety and enforcement of labor laws, leaving workers more vulnerable to injury, wage theft and exploitation,” — Donald Norcross, Mark Pocan, Steven Horsford, Debbie Dingell (Congressional Labor caucus)

The Guardian

The Department of Labor will await the inspector-general report, and the Trump administration must nominate a successor to lead the agency.

The Guardian