WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Labor backpedaled her previous support for repealing right-to-work laws. Senators pressed nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former GOP congresswoman, about a pro-union bill she co-sponsored during her time in the House.
More than half of states have right-to-work laws, which prohibit private companies from requiring employees to enter a union as a condition of hiring. The 2021 Protecting the Right to Organize Act would have repealed 28 states’ right-to-work laws, much to the dismay of some GOP senators.
Now poised to head the U.S. Department of Labor, Chavez-DeRemer backpedaled her pro-union stances during the hearing. In response to several senator’s questioning, Chavez-DeRemer stated she no longer supports the section of the PRO Act that would have repealed right-to-work laws on the state level.
“I believe our labor laws need to be updated and modernized to reflect today’s workforce and the business environment. As a member of Congress, the PRO Act was the bill to have those conversations.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who represents a right-to-work state, has been lobbying behind the scenes to deny her nomination due to her previous co-sponsorship of the PRO Act. The bill passed the House in 2021 but failed to gain GOP support in the Senate.
“The PRO Act wasn’t just about organizing or enabling unions to organize, which they already have the right to do, the PRO Act was about overturning right-to-work laws in 26 states, half the country,” he said.
The bill would also ban corporations from union-busting practices such as compelling workers to view anti-union materials.
Samantha Sanders, the Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Economic Policy Institute, said, “I was I guess kind of disappointed but not that surprised to hear that coming out of the hearing, especially because Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer does have a record of, at least in the past, having supported some pretty bold legislation that would be good for unions and would boost workers’ wages.”
Members of the Teamster Union attended Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination hearing on Feb. 19, 2025. (Josh Sukoff/MNS)
The daughter of a lifelong Teamsters member, the Oregon congresswoman is also a small-business owner and former mayor of a fast-growing suburb in the Portland metropolitan area. Now in President Trump’s orbit, Chavez-DeRemer is distancing herself from her past pro-union stance.
“In my district, unions aren’t the enemy of small businesses, they’re a partner. Small businesses benefit from the presence of unions. As a small business owner, I know this better than most,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a 2024 reelection ad.
Chavez-DeRemer recognized she was no longer an Oregon representative. If confirmed, she said she will commit to allowing Congress to write and enforce the laws as Labor Secretary.
“I will not be that lawmaker anymore,” she said in response to Sen. Cassidy.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, implored the nominee to support working-class Americans.
“You will have to make a choice,” Sen. Sanders said. “Will you be a rubber stamp for the anti-worker agenda of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other multi-billionaires…or will you stand with working families all over the country?”
Several Democratic senators expressed concerns over handing over sensitive labor data to billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency allies. A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by over a dozen states to block Musk allies from accessing information systems at the Labor Department and other federal agencies needed to fire federal workers.
As Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) left the hearing, he said, “As of now, I haven’t been supportive of Trump’s cabinet nominees as long as this lawlessness effort that we’ve seen underway continues on.”
When pressed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) about whether she would follow a Trump directive to violate labor laws, Chavez-DeRemer said, “I do not believe that the President is going to ask me to break the law.”
President Trump last week suggested that his administration could not be held liable for breaking any laws if they move in the country’s interests.
“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” he wrote in a now archived post on Truth Social and Musk’s X.
As he left the hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) reaffirmed his support for the nominee.
“And as I just reminded my Republican colleagues, she is the president’s choice to lead the labor department.”
