Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former Republican U.S. Representative from Oregon, will make the case on Wednesday that she is the right person to balance the needs of the nation’s businesses and workers.

Donald Trump nominated Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary in November, just weeks after she lost her congressional seat to her longtime Democratic rival, Janelle Bynum.

If approved following her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Chavez-DeRemer would be the latest Oregonian to become a member of a presidential cabinet.

Gordon Sondland, a hotelier, served as ambassador to the European Union during Trump’s first term. The late Neil Goldschmidt, the disgraced former Portland mayor and Oregon governor, was transportation secretary under President Jimmy Carter.

Labor secretaries oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and priorities. Among their responsibilities: union rights, workers’ wages, employee health and safety, and employers’ rights to fire people.

Chavez-DeRemer has sought to keep her political life focused on local issues and bipartisan work, but her endorsement of President Trump last year repeatedly drew criticism and may have cost her votes in a tightly-contested swing district.

Now, in seeking the job as America’s labor boss, she will once again have to walk a tightrope, this time between the business interests and labor unions that are key to political success.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who sits on the Senate labor committee, have said they’ll oppose Chavez-DeRemer because of her previous support for union-friendly policies. But that stance could also win Democratic support.

“I think this is a very blue state and it’s a strong union state,” said supporter Jeff Stone, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, which represents more than 700 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. “And while I may have my disagreements about unionization of a workforce, I think the Congresswoman came from a state where you have to have both at the table. And that’s not a sin, right?”

Chavez-DeRemer’s spokesperson did not return phone calls and messages seeking comment. In recent weeks, she has been meeting with senators to discuss her nomination as she prepares to testify before the committee and its members, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont.

Here’s what you need to know about Chavez-DeRemer.

Who is she?

Chavez-DeRemer is a small business owner and mother of twin girls. Her father was a member of the Teamsters union. Alongside her husband, she founded an anesthesia management company and opened clinics elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. For years, she worked in the city of Happy Valley, eventually winning elections for city councilor and mayor.

In 2022, she was Oregon’s first Republican woman elected to Congress, flipping a district that President Joe Biden won in 2020.

In the last election, Chavez-DeRemer campaigned as a moderate, frequently citing her bipartisan work and messaging middle-of-the-road views on abortion. She called for immigration reform but acknowledged that Hispanic residents are part of the “fabric of this state” and prop its agriculture industry, adding: “We are a nation of immigrants.”

Much of her campaign in Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District — which spans from the Portland suburbs south to Albany and east to Bend — focused on local issues, everything from tolling to child care to funds she secured for local transportation and public safety projects.

Chavez-DeRemer’s union views

Support from labor unions is key to winning and maintaining political power in Oregon.

Chavez-DeRemer touted support from organized labor during her campaign in November. She noted that she fought in Congress for fair wages, safe working conditions and registered apprenticeships.

In Congress, she backed the PRO Act, a bill aimed at making it easier for federal workers to unionize and bargain for better pay, benefits and working conditions, which has not passed.

She even went against her Republican colleagues in opposing a Republican-led bill that would make it harder for the National Labor Relations Board to get involved in labor disputes. The bill did not pass.

Though unsuccessful, her campaign drew significant union backing for a Republican, including from groups like United Food and Commercial Workers Union and several public safety unions.

But some union leaders criticized her on the campaign trail for not showing up for them in Congress, including for missing a series of anti-union meetings led by Republicans, as reported by the Oregon Capitol Chronicle.

Chavez-DeRemer’s supporters say that she has a balanced view of business and union needs, and that’s exactly what makes her the right person to be the nation’s labor boss.

“That to me is a plus, not a minus for her,” said Greg Addington, the executive director of the Oregon Farm Bureau, the state’s largest agricultural advocacy and lobbying organization, which supports Chavez-DeRemer.

Addington said Chavez-DeRemer, who served on the House Committee on Agriculture, was an ally of the agriculture industry during her time in the house. Once, he noted, she got the chairman of the committee, U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-PA, to visit Oregon for a listening tour.

He said her understanding of workers’ rights and the impacts of regulation on business could be key for confronting issues facing the agriculture industry and workforce, which fuels the state’s economy.

“We understand the need for a safe work environment and proper wages,” Addington said. “But I think we all feel like those things can get out of whack sometimes, and can be a little overbearing or or too much. And so I think that Lori really has a good sense of what’s practical, what’s doable and what makes not only economic sense, but sense for the workers and the labor community as well.”

Who supports her?

Oregon’s largest farming and ranching groups are lining up behind Chavez-DeRemer, including the Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

“Oregon is a long way away from Washington, DC.,” said Stone. “And getting a voice that understands Oregon and understands the dynamic between agriculture and labor can only be a positive.”

At least one large union in Oregon isn’t supporting her nomination.

Graham Trainor is the president of Oregon AFL-CIO, which represents over 300,000 working Oregonians, including nurses, firefighters and teachers. In a statement, he said Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-union stances were “heartening,” adding: “If she’s able to live out the values behind those bills as Secretary of Labor, that would be terrific.”

“However, she’s been nominated to be part of an administration whose central blueprint so far appears to be Project 2025, which is deeply anti-worker and anti-union,” said Trainor. “So the jury is out: what policies will she pursue at DOL and, even if she wanted to pursue pro-worker policies, will she be allowed to do so? Senate hearings will be important for nailing down her direction as the Secretary of Labor.”

What are her chances?

So far, Chavez-DeRemer’s views on labor have created a schism among some political leaders, including criticism from some Republicans. But that support could draw enough Democratic support to make up for any Republican opposition, as some Republicans have publicly acknowledged.

In a statement, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., did not say if Wyden will support Chavez-DeRemer for the job, but said: “He has met with her and will be watching closely to inform his decision.”

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley went a step further in a statement issued Tuesday.

“We cannot have business as usual as Trump allows his unelected sidekick Elon Musk to undertake an authoritarian administrative coup by dismantling agencies, disregarding our laws, and dishonoring our Constitution,” Merkley said. “While I would have voted for Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Secretary of Labor, as long as Trump and Elon’s illegal actions persist, I will not vote to confirm any cabinet nominees.”

Chavez-DeRemer nomination hearing begins at 7:00 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/11/lori-chavez-deremer-walks-political-tightrope-in-pursuit-of-job-as-americas-labor-boss/