Chavez-DeRemer’s Secretary of Labor Nomination Advances to Full Senate

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Thursday to advance Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination for secretary of labor to the full Senate.

The committee voted 14 to 9 to advance Chavez-DeRemer, with Senators Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire; Tim Kaine, D-Virginia; and John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, joining Republican committee members to support President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was not present but voted “yes” by proxy, with the unanimous consent of the other committee members.

The three Democratic members’ support offset a “no” vote from Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky. Paul previously criticized Chavez-DeRemer for her support, as a member of the House of Representatives representing Oregon’s 5th congressional district, of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2023, which sought to make it easier for workers to unionize.

However, Chavez-DeRemer largely walked back her support for the legislation in last week’s nomination hearing, saying she no longer supports the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work laws, which currently exist in 27 U.S. states.

Chavez-DeRemer did, however, express support for the Butch Lewis Act, passed as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which allows the Department of the Treasury and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to provide grants to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans.

The nomination now moves to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, for which no timeline has yet been set.

The Senate HELP Committee also held a nomination hearing Thursday for Keith Sonderling, nominated to serve as deputy secretary of labor.

A nomination hearing for Daniel Aronowitz, Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of labor to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration, has yet to be scheduled.