Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Republican representative from Oregon who narrowly lost her House seat this month, was chosen on Friday to serve as labor secretary in the coming Trump administration.
“Lori has worked tirelessly with both business and labor to build America’s work force, and support the hardworking men and women of America,” President-elect Donald J. Trump said in a statement.
A moderate from a swing district that includes parts of Portland, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, 56, is not a major figure in American labor politics. But she was one of only a few House Republicans to support major pro-union legislation, and she split her district’s union endorsements with her Democratic opponent, Janelle Bynum, earning nods from ironworkers, firefighters and local Teamsters.
When the House speaker, Mike Johnson, spoke at a Chavez-DeRemer rally in October, he said, “She’s got more labor union endorsements than any Republican I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Labor leaders criticized Mr. Trump’s policies during his first term as president, and at one point in the race this year, he praised Elon Musk for a willingness to fire workers who go on strike. But Mr. Trump also proposed ending taxes on tips and overtime, and many rank-and-file union members embraced his pro-tariffs economic agenda.
After Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s defeat this month, the president of the Teamsters, Sean O’Brien, urged Mr. Trump to consider her for the labor secretary role, Politico reported. On Friday, Mr. O’Brien praised her selection, posting a photograph on X of himself standing with Mr. Trump and Ms. Chavez-DeRemer.
“North America’s strongest union is ready to work with you every step of the way to expand good union jobs,” he wrote.
Mr. O’Brien courted Mr. Trump throughout the presidential race — to the consternation of some of his membership — even speaking at the Republican National Convention; ultimately, the Teamsters did not endorse a candidate.
Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, who has said her father belonged to the Teamsters, faced one of the toughest re-election battles of any House member this year.
She endorsed Mr. Trump, but she rarely praised him on the campaign trail in her district, where many voters are unaffiliated. Instead, she focused on a law-and-order message and her legislative work on the fentanyl crisis.
In the run-up to Election Day, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer toured a training facility for a local plumbers and steamfitters union, where apprentices practiced their welding skills. The group later endorsed her.
Ms. Chavez-DeRemer began her political rise in Happy Valley, Ore., a Portland suburb where she served as mayor for eight years. On social media on Friday, she thanked Mr. Trump for putting her on the threshold of a cabinet position.
“Working-class Americans finally have a lifeline with you in the White House,” she wrote.
During the Biden administration, the Labor Department — led first by Martin J. Walsh, then by Julie Su — ramped up its enforcement of minimum-wage, overtime and worker-safety rules. Much of that could be reversed after Mr. Trump takes office. In his first four years in the White House, the Labor Department rolled back various worker protections and benefits, from paid leave to worker classifications.
Among the Labor Department’s most far-reaching policies under President Biden was an expansion of overtime eligibility to millions of workers by raising the income cutoff to about $59,000 next year from the $35,500 threshold set by the department under Mr. Trump. A federal judge in Texas struck down the Biden administration’s overtime rule on Nov. 15, and Mr. Trump’s Labor Department could reinforce limitations on how many people would qualify for overtime pay.
Worker classification was another Biden administration priority. Mr. Biden’s Labor Department issued a rule making it more likely that gig workers would be classified as employees rather than independent contractors, entitling them to the federal minimum wage and overtime pay. Mr. Trump’s department could undo that rule, which has faced several lawsuits from businesses seeking to block it. During his first term, Mr. Trump issued a rule that some labor experts argued made it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors.
The Labor Department is also responsible for enforcing child labor violations, a mandate that Mr. Biden stepped up. Last year, the department’s wage and hour division instructed officials to seek large monetary penalties from violators. But the Trump administration is likely to tamp down enforcement of child labor rules.
Mr. Trump’s department could walk back or delay Biden-era safety rules, including a proposal by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requiring employers to protect workers from the health risks of heat. During Mr. Trump’s first term, the Labor Department took aim at safety regulations less directly, too, by instructing the heads of the department’s enforcement agencies to generally refrain from issuing news releases about citations or other enforcement actions against companies.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration during his first term had a chilling effect on immigrant workers, discouraging them from coming forward to discuss workplace issues, said Janice Fine, a professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. That, she said, could play out again and affect the Labor Department’s work, beyond the likely reversal of specific Biden-era measures.
“When immigrant workers don’t come forward, they don’t complain about wage theft and health and safety threats and violations,” Dr. Fine said. “It gets in the way of the government’s ability to protect all workers.”
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