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Who is Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Donald Trump's labour secretary?
Lori Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed as the United States's secretary of labor with a 67-32 Senate vote on Monday.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed as the United States’s secretary of labour by the Senate on Monday with a 67-32 vote. There were three Republicans who voted against her, while 17 Democrats were in favour of making Chavez-DeRemer the 30th Labor Secretary, reported news agency AP.
Chavez-DeRemer’s appointment comes at a tricky time. Her position will require her to ensure the welfare of America’s workforce while the US government has been laying off federal employees. The US Labor Department describes its mission as “to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.”
Who is Lori Chavez-DeRemer?
Born on April 7, 1968, Lori Chavez-DeRemer graduated from Hanford High School in California in 1986 and attended California State University later. Her public service career started in 2002 on the Happy Valley Parks Committee in Oregon and helped build the city’s 4th of July festival. Following this, she earned a seat at the Happy Valley City Council and eventually became the council’s president.
In her first major political break, Chavez-DeRemer became the first female and latina mayor of Happy Valley in 2010. She was re-elected in 2014 before she moved her way up to the US House of Representatives in 2022 to represent Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. Adding to her feat, she was one of the first Latinas and the first republican woman elected to Congress from Oregon state.
Apart from her political career, Chavez-DeRemer is also a small business owner. She married her high school love Dr Shawn DeRemer and went on to establish an anesthesia management company with him. They both also opened many other medical clinics in the Pacific Northwest.
While nominating Chavez-DeRemer as the Labor Secretary in November 2024, the official statement from US President Donald Trump read, “Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America.”
After being confirmed for the role, Chavez-DeRemer promised to work tirelessly to “put American Workers First by fighting for good-paying jobs, safe working conditions, and secure retirement benefits.”
