‘She seems to be an incredibly strong, pro-labor choice,’ Senator John Fetterman (D., Pa.) told NR.
In many ways, Donald Trump’s Labor secretary nominee — first-term Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer (D., Ore.) – is the best pick Democrats could realistically hope for from a Republican president-elect: the daughter of a Teamster with a pro-organized labor legislative record and an astonishing amount of support from union leaders.
“She seems to be an incredibly strong, pro-labor choice,” Senator John Fetterman (D., Pa.) told National Review of Chavez-DeRemer, who recently lost reelection to her Portland-area House seat. He added that her nomination is a “strategic” and “smart play” for Trump, because it may help the GOP “co-opt” even more support from traditionally Democratic union voters in the future.
Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) also signaled openness to supporting her nomination earlier this week: “If Chavez-DeRemer commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power, she’s a strong candidate for the job,” she told news outlets this week, cautioning that she serves as an “early test” of whether the president-elect will “stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment’s opposition.”
Congressional Democrats and unions are particularly enamored with her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would strip 27 states of their right-to-work laws and heavily regulate independent contracting law. This could prove toxic among some Senate Republicans, most of whom hail from right-to-work states and oppose the PRO Act. The National Right to Work Committee is lobbying Senate Republicans against her.
She may also run into trouble with Republicans over her support for the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would require state and local government employers to collectively bargain, as well as her decision earlier this year to skip a vote on a GOP-led effort to block a Biden-era Labor Department rule that heavily restricts worker classification rights for independent contractors.
The same record that appears to be winning over some Senate Democrats is giving Republicans pause. Before she gets a hearing, Chavez-DeRemer must first make it through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee under the leadership of soon-to-be Chairman Bill Cassidy (R., La.), who signaled in a November 22 statement he has many questions about her pro-union record.
“I will need to get a better understanding of her support for Democrat legislation in Congress that would strip Louisiana’s ability to be a right to work state, and if that will be her position going forward.”
Speaking with reporters in the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon, HELP Committee member and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) joked that he’s gotten a lot of calls to his office opposing her nomination and that she “checks all the boxes for the left, not many for the right.”
And he predicted that Democrats’ early openness to her nomination could pad her margins if she racks up some opposition from Republicans. Next year, Senate Republicans will have 53 seats, and every nominee will need a simple majority to get confirmed. Vice-President-elect J. D. Vance can break a tie.
“She might get more votes than anybody, because she is one of them,” Tuberville said, citing her pro-union record and support for the PRO Act. He said he looks forward to meeting with her privately, adding he plans to “give President Trump the benefit of the doubt here because he nominated her and there’s got to be a reason.”
But Republicans worry that her support among union leaders is a red flag.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien privately lobbied for Chavez-DeRemer in the lead-up to Trump’s announcement, according to press reports, and later praised Trump for “putting American workers first” by nominating her. GOP bogeywoman Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, also had kind words for Chavez-DeRemer the day of her nomination, writing on social media that “her record suggests real support of workers and their right to unionize.”
“We haven’t gone through our own deep dive,” said HELP Committee member and Senator John Hickenlooper (D., Colo.). “Certainly, I’m looking forward to being able to ask her questions and see what her vision is,” he said, adding that “President Trump’s nominations have surprised many people in both directions.” Democratic Senator and HELP Committee member Tina Smith (D., Minn.) sounded a similar tune, telling NR Tuesday afternoon that she’s “very open to learning more about her.”
GOP Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), whose record is more pro-organized labor than most Senate Republicans, said he looks forward to meeting her and supporting her nomination.
“I tend to think she’s a great choice,” Hawley told NR on Tuesday. Pressed about whether he plans to have conversations with his Senate GOP colleagues who may have reservations about her record, he said he plans to tell them to “relax” and “take some deep breaths” before rushing to oppose her.
“It’s all going to be fine,” he said. “Donald Trump ran on a pro-worker platform. So, I think it’s a good sign that he’s delivering on that.”