President-elect Donald Trump‘s labor secretary choice is drawing praise from unexpected places — and criticism from some of the president’s allies.
“I plan to hold President-elect Trump’s feet to the fire for working people, and I look forward to hearing more from congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR),” progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said. “It’s a big deal that one of the few Republican lawmakers who have endorsed the PRO Act could lead the Department of Labor. If Chavez-DeRemer commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power, she’s a strong candidate for the job.”
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Warren isn’t the only one who thinks it’s a big deal that Chavez-DeRemer, who narrowly lost her reelection bid in a moderate Oregon House district this year, supports the pro-union PRO Act. But not everyone is excited about it.
Republicans have been associated with a pro-business, anti-union stance for decades, but Trump has made inroads with blue collar voters that helped him win Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania en route to a second term.
His selection of Chavez-DeRemer can be seen as a nod to unions like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters who broke tradition by refusing to endorse Trump’s Democratic opponent.
Some GOPers, however, think Chavez-DeRemer’s unabashedly pro-union stance is a bridge too far.
“Chavez-DeRemer’s support of Democrats’ radical Pro Act makes her unfit to serve as Labor Secretary in the Trump administration,” Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz said. “This legislation is a Big Labor wish list that tramples over the rights of small businesses and ordinary workers.”
JCN complained that the PRO Act blocks the free speech of small businesses, would forcibly unionize some companies, end right-to-work laws, and effectively ban most sole proprietorships. It says the key distinction for the new working-class GOP is to be pro-worker, not pro-union per se.
The editorial board of the conservative National Review lambasted Chavez-DeRemer as a backer of not only private sector unions but government employee unions as well, noting that she co-sponsored the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which it says would “force the blue-state model of government unions onto red states.”
“Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, most Democrats in Congress, the teachers’ unions, AFSCME, the Teamsters, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer support the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act,” the editorial board wrote. “Not one Republican Senator does.”
Indeed, Trump might have more trouble getting Republicans to confirm her nomination than he will with Democrats.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) weighed in shortly after Chavez-DeRemer was announced saying he looks forward to speaking with her about her vision for the Department of Labor.
“I will need to get a better understanding of her support for Democrat legislation in Congress that would strip Louisiana’s ability to be a right to work state, and if that will be her position going forward,” he wrote on X.
Some Republican senators stand behind Chavez-DeRemer, such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who congratulated her on social media and said he looked forward to working with her to “create better opportunities and bolster our economy.”
But the backing she’s received from the Left could make things awkward on Capitol Hill.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, an almost universally loathed figure among conservatives, gave an approving post on X when the Chavez-DeRemer rumors first heated up.
Perhaps sensing the growing intra-party conflict within the GOP, Warren described her confirmation as a test of mettle for Senate Republicans and for Trump himself.
“This nomination is an early test: will Trump stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment’s opposition?” she wrote. “And if Republican senators block Trump’s labor nominee for standing with unions, it will show that the party’s support for workers is all talk.”
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Dan Bowling, who teaches labor courses at Georgia State University, previously told the Washington Examiner that the Labor Secretary job is more symbolic than substantive since union-related matters are often handled by the National Labor Relations Board rather than the Department of Labor.
Even so, Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation battle could be one of the unusual coalitions coming together, with progressives like Warren supporting her while Republicans like Cassidy voice their skepticism.
