The Senate confirmed former Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor, marking the completion of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries.
Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan support in a 67-32 vote on Monday evening. Three Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., voted against Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation.
“The American people demand and deserve change after four years of economic heartache under the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’ Unfortunately, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record pushing policies that force hardworking Americans into union membership suggests more of the same,” McConnell said in a statement.
Paul has consistently opposed Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination over her past support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, voting against the motion to proceed her nomination to a final Senate vote.
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However, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that Chavez-DeRemer is “committed to this mission and ready to work with the HELP Committee to secure a better future for all workers.”
“The Biden administration used its authority as a weapon against workers, threatening their ability to earn a living and provide for their families. With President Trump back in office, we have an opportunity to enact a pro-America agenda at the Department of Labor that puts workers first,” Cassidy said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
Chavez-DeRemer has received support from Democratic senators throughout her confirmation process, including from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who said she believed the Trump nominee was “qualified to serve as the next secretary of Labor.”
“The Department of Labor plays an integral role in supporting workers and small businesses alike, and after hearing significant support from constituents, including members of labor unions in New Hampshire, I will support Representative Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination as Secretary of Labor,” Hassan shared in a statement to Fox News Digital after voting to advance the Trump nominee through the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
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Chavez-DeRemer previously served as mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon, from 2011 to 2018, before being elected to represent the state’s 5th Congressional District in Congress in the 2022 midterms.
The Teamsters Union endorsed the Trump nominee for the top role in Trump’s Cabinet.
“As the daughter of a Teamster, Lori Chavez-DeRemer knows the importance of carrying a union card and what it means to grow up in a middle-class household,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a February statement.
“Working people need someone with her experience leading the agency that is tasked with protecting workers, creating good union jobs, and rebuilding our nation’s middle class.”
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