Trump’s labor pick is ‘toxic’ anti-conservative who is too close to unions, critics allege

Some have labelled the choice as an “outrage” as others warned there could be complications.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for labor secretary is a “toxic” anti-conservative Republican in name only with cosy ties to unions, outraged critics told the New York Post.

During her single term in politics, Lori Chavez-DeRemer has backed a laundry list of boilerplate liberal policies at odds with longstanding Republican orthodoxies, including strengthening unions’ efforts to organise the private sector, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and championing expanding government employee unions.

“The signalling effect alone from this nomination would be that the Trump administration is not serious about deregulation or economic growth,” said Ken Girardin, labor expert at the conservative Empire Center for Public Policy.

President-elect Donald Trump on November 22, 2024 has picked Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his Labor Secretary. Picture: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images North America / AFP

One of the biggest red flags for critics is the fact that Ms Chavez-DeRemer was one of only three House Republicans who co-sponsored the a radical, union-backed Act.

The bill, which failed to pass in of the House in 2023, would have banned right-to-work laws in over two dozen states, which allow employees to opt out of paying union dues, devastated the gig economy by restricting independent contractor classifications and forced employers to hand over their workers’ personal information.

“In this woman’s America, every worker would have to have a boss and pay the union for the privilege of working,” said Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform.

“This is an outrage. This is not mildly bad. This is a huge thing that she voted for.”

Billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump confidante, has been tapped to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

Teamsters union president Sean O’Brien – who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January and spoke at the Republican National Convention despite not endorsing him in his 2024 White House run — pushed for Chavez-DeRemer to clinch a Cabinet post, a Trump world insider said.

“Sean O’Brien of the Teamsters did that,” the insider said. “Trump and O’Brien are closer than people understand.”

Union support was a crucial factor for Trump’s election win in November.

Despite the Teamsters union refusal to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, internal polling conducted by the union found nearly 60 per cent of its rank-and-file nationwide backed Trump.

“Rank and file labor was an important part of his coalition, but I don’t think [Chavez-DeRemer] is any good at all. People are very worried about her,” a person close to Trump said.

“Business won’t like her, Chamber of Commerce won’t like her. This was not a great appointment.”

US President-elect Donald Trump on November 22, 2024 has picked Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his Labor Secretary. Picture: AFP

Mr O’Brien thanked Trump on Friday after the nomination “for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for US Labor Secretary”,

“Nearly a year ago, you joined us for a [Teamsters] roundtable and pledged to listen to workers and find common ground to protect and respect labor in America,” he continued. “You put words into action. Now let’s grow wages and improve working conditions nationwide.”

Teacher’s union boss Randi Weingarten also cheered the pick, saying on X she hoped “it means the Trump admin will actually respect collective bargaining and workers’ voices from Teamsters to teachers”.

MS Chavez-Deremer, 56, who was narrowly defeated in her re-election bid by Democrat Janelle Bynum, has received the full-throated support from House Republican leadership for her Labor Secretary nomination, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer.

Some believe there could be issues with her Senate confirmation. Picture: Alex Wong / Getty Images North America / AFP

A Republication party insider warned that her pro-union issues are certain to complicate her Senate confirmation.

“There are going to be a lot of Republicans who can’t vote for this because it’s toxic for them,” the insider said.

“The anti-right to work stuff. That is toxic for so many Republicans.”

This story was originally published on the New York Post and is reproduced here with permission

Originally published as Trump’s labor pick is ‘toxic’ anti-conservative who is too close to unions, critics allege