Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary is a Fresno State graduate from the Central Valley

Among those President-elect Donald Trump has put forth to lead his cabinet during his second administration is a relatively unknown political figure with ties to the California’s Central Valley.

On Friday, Trump announced the nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R–Ore.) to head the U.S. Department of Labor, the entity that administers federal labor laws on things like working conditions, hourly wages and overtime pay, employment discrimination and unemployment insurance.

Chavez-DeRemer grew up in Hanford and attended Hanford High School, graduating in 1986. It’s also where she met her husband, according to her official bio. Chavez-DeRener also worked as a substitute teacher in Hanford for several years in the 1990s, after graduating from Fresno State with a bachelor’s degree in business administration-management. She eventually relocated to Oregon and started a medical company with her husband, an anesthesiologist.

From city council to congress

Her political career started in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley in the 2000s. She worked on the city’s parks committee before being elected to city council, where she served from 2005-2010, including three years as council president. In 2011, she became the mayor of Happy Valley. She served until 2018.

In 2022, she broke barriers as one of the first Latinas, and the first Republican woman, to be elected to congress from Oregon. She served in the state’s 5th Congressional District for just one term, before losing her reelection (narrowly) to Democrat Janelle Bynum earlier this month.

In a statement conceding the race, Chavez-DeRemer wrote: “I hope Ms. Bynum will follow the example I have set over the past two years and serve as a pragmatic, thoughtful and bipartisan leader who will work with the Trump administration to address housing affordability, improve public safety and secure the border.”

A clear record on workers’ rights, organized labor

Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination was a surprise to many, given her record on workers’ rights and organized labor issues and the fact she was supported by Teamsters president Sean O’Brien.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, or Teamsters union, includes 1.3 million workers across the country, across most occupations.

In an op-ed last week, O’Brien wrote: “Rep. Lori. Chavez-DeRemer is the exact type of champion for the American worker that Republicans should get behind if they are serious about becoming the working-class party.”

Chavez-DeRemer co-sponsored another piece of legislation that would protect public-sector workers from having their Social Security benefits docked because of government pension benefits. That proposal was unable to garner GOP support.

Similarly, Chavez-DeRemer endorsed the PRO Act, which would make it easier to unionize on a federal level. That bill passed the House during President Joe Biden’s first two years in office, when Democrats controlled the chamber, but was unable to get enough Republican support to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Chavez-DeRemer was one of three Republicans who voted for the bill.

Still, some labor organizations are fearful of a Trump administration, regardless of who’s running the labor department.

In a statement following the nomination, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said despite Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-labor record in Congress, “Donald Trump is the President-elect of the United States — not Rep. Chavez-DeRemer — and it remains to be seen what she will be permitted to do as Secretary of Labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-worker agenda.

“Despite having distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, President-elect Trump has put forward several cabinet nominees with strong ties to Project 2025. That 900-page document has proposals that would strip overtime pay, eliminate the right to organize, and weaken health and safety standards.

“The AFL-CIO will work with anyone who wants to do right by workers, but we will reject and defeat any attempt to roll back the rights and protections that working people have won with decades of blood, sweat, and tears. You can stand with working people, or you can stand with Project 2025, but you can’t stand with both.”

Chavez-DeRemer must still be confirmed by the Republican led Senate, after Trump takes office and formally sends his nominations to Capitol Hill.

This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 12:00 PM.