Faced with a federal inspector general’s probe, a congressional inquiry, police reports and civil rights complaints, Trump’s labor secretary has quit — departing a department her own staff described as toxic and rudderless.
resigned on Monday amid a convergence of scandals and investigations that threatened to engulf her office. The White House confirmed her departure, announcing that Keith Sonderling, the deputy secretary of labor, would assume the role of acting secretary.
Why Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigned as Labor Secretary
The resignation did not come without warning. Pressure on Chavez-DeRemer had been building for weeks as investigators and congressional leaders zeroed in on her conduct in office, as well as the behaviour of her aides and members of her own family.
The Labor Department’s inspector general’s office was nearing the conclusion of a months-long investigation into a whistle-blower’s allegations of professional misconduct. The claims included accusations that Chavez-DeRemer was having an affair with a member of her security detail and had used department resources for personal travel. She had been expected to be interviewed by investigators within days.
An internal complaint first triggered the investigation, initially reported in January by The New York Post, which alleged that Chavez-DeRemer and her senior aides had regularly arranged official trips to destinations where the secretary could socialise and visit family.
“Her resignation is much more a reflection of her commitment to the overall mission: to avoid further distractions within the ,” said Nick Oberheiden, a lawyer representing Chavez-DeRemer in the internal investigation. He was unequivocal that she “did not resign because she violated the law; no such finding exists.”
What the Inspector General’s Investigation Uncovered
Investigators interviewed several dozen witnesses over the course of the probe and uncovered evidence that Chavez-DeRemer and her staff abused federal spending limits during personal trips — including expenditure on luxury hotels, SUV rentals and restaurant meals, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Four individuals have left or been forced out of their positions in connection with the investigation.
The probe also examined text messages sent by Chavez-DeRemer, her former deputy chief of staff, her husband, and her father to young staff members. Those messages, reported last week by The New York Times, suggested the secretary had been drinking during working hours and raised broader concerns about professionalism within the executive office.
The pattern that emerged from the evidence — the police report, civil rights complaints and inspector general findings — painted a picture of a senior office in which younger female staff members frequently fielded inappropriate requests and messages from Chavez-DeRemer, her family members and close aides. Women in the executive office were also reportedly instructed to “pay attention” to the secretary’s husband and father.
The Text Messages at the Centre of the Scandal
Two text message exchanges reviewed by the NYT have become central to the allegations against the secretary’s inner circle.
In one 2025 exchange reported by
New York Times, a female staff member apologised to Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, , for not being in touch and promised to check in. “You better,” DeRemer responded. “I was feeling forgotten. I figured you were still in church repenting after your exposure to the demon state of Oregon.”
In a separate exchange, Chavez-DeRemer herself asked a staff member to bring her a bottle of “josh Sauvi B” — a reference to a white wine — to her hotel room from the hotel bar while the two were travelling together on a work trip.
Shawn DeRemer has since been barred from the Labor Department’s headquarters after female staff members accused him of making unwanted sexual advances, including filing a police report. Although police and prosecutors have said they will not bring criminal charges against him, the situation continued to reverberate through the department’s leadership. In recent weeks, three separate claims of a hostile work environment were filed against Chavez-DeRemer with the department’s civil rights office.
Congressional Pressure and the Grassley Inquiry
The inspector general’s investigation was not the only threat Chavez-DeRemer faced. A parallel inquiry on Capitol Hill added to the mounting pressure. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanded internal records and statements from the Labor Department in connection with the allegations.
“The secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning, and I think she read the room,” said Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana.
Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, drew a broader lesson from the episode, arguing that senators tasked with confirming future nominees needed to raise their standards. “I think what we have to do is anywhere where benefit of the doubt was given in the past, you’ve got to doubt,” he said.
Who Is Keith Sonderling, the Acting Labor Secretary?
Keith Sonderling, a labour lawyer with a decade of government experience, steps into the acting role at a moment of institutional fragility. According to multiple department employees who spoke to the New York Times, Sonderling had effectively been running the Labor Department throughout ‘s tenure, quietly managing an agency whose nominal leader was described by dozens of staff as absent and disengaged.
Career staff and political appointees alike characterised the department under Chavez-DeRemer as a toxic workplace, with an absentee secretary and hostile aides leaving employees frustrated and demoralised.
Chavez-DeRemer’s Brief and Turbulent Tenure
Chavez-DeRemer, 58, served a single term as a Republican congresswoman from Oregon before being nominated to lead the Labor Department. Her nomination had the notable backing of the Teamsters union, whose president, Sean O’Brien, had supported Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, an endorsement that gave her confirmation bipartisan credibility.
The White House, for its part, sought to cast her tenure in a positive light. Spokesman Steven Cheung posted on social media that had “done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives,” announcing that she would be “leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector.”
The US Labor Market She Leaves Behind
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure comes at a delicate moment for the American labour market. Job growth has slowed markedly in recent months, wage growth has decelerated and the unemployment rate has edged upwards. Younger workers in particular have struggled to gain a foothold, and anxiety about the long-term impact of artificial intelligence on employment has grown steadily.
Yet the picture is not uniformly bleak. Layoffs across the broader economy remain at historically low levels. Many economists attribute the slowdown less to weak demand from employers than to a constrained labour supply, partly a consequence of the Trump administration’s clampdown on immigration. The words economists most commonly reach for are “stagnant” and “anemic”, cautious, rather than catastrophic.
Keith Sonderling serves as acting US Labor Secretary following Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation on Monday.
