the issue
Republicans’ small but vocal pro-union contingent will get a big chance to speak out this week, as President Trump’s labor secretary nominee gets a confirmation hearing that’s likely to focus on her support for a bipartisan labor bill.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican congresswoman from Oregon, has drawn scrutiny from some in the GOP (and plaudits from some Democrats) for her backing of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a proposal that would strengthen protections for unionized workers.
But Chavez-DeRemer isn’t the only Republican on record backing the legislation. One of her former House Republican colleagues, in fact, is preparing to reintroduce the bill.
the bond
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., has championed the PRO Act and co-led it with Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., during the previous Congress. Fitzpatrick, who represents a battleground district where union voters are a key constituency, told Semafor he’s “100 percent” planning to be the lead Republican sponsor on the latest version in the coming weeks.
Fitzpatrick also said he believes Chavez-DeRemer’s perch at the Labor Department, assuming she is confirmed by the Senate, will help his cause.
“That’s why we recommended her,” he said.
Scott separately told Semafor that he expects the bill to pick up support from all Democratic members “and a handful of Republicans” in the House. But he cautioned that any movement on the measure depends on buy-in from House GOP leadership — which could be a steep road, to say the least. It faces an even more difficult path in the Senate.
Step Back
The PRO Act — which would strengthen workers’ rights to join unions, allow unions to encourage workers to take part in “secondary strikes,” and weaken state right-to-work laws — attracted only a few Republican cosponsors in the past, and there’s at least some evidence that the support may shrink further in the GOP despite Chavez-DeRemer’s elevation by Trump.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who backed an earlier version of the bill, now says it’s a “step too far” and predicted there would be little appetite for it again.
“We can’t force down all of the trade and labor policies, particularly labor policies, on Alabama and the state of New York at the same time,” Van Drew told Semafor. “They have different viewpoints, they have different goals, and I think it was, again, too much for a nationwide effort.”
Still, he said Chavez-DeRemer would be a voice for unions within the Trump administration. She will appear before the Senate labor committee for her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, after it was delayed due to a local snowstorm, and her pro-union stance promises to be at the center of members’ questioning.
“President Trump is not anti-union,” Van Drew said. “He’s worked with unions his whole life.”
The View From the senate
The PRO Act might not be popular among Senate Republicans, but Democrats in the upper chamber are on board — and Chavez-DeRemer’s support for the bill has convinced at least one of them to back her nomination even before a hearing.
“She was very pro-labor and supported the PRO Act, and I plan to vote yes,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Semafor.
The View From business groups
Business groups that are traditionally supportive of Republicans have bashed the PRO Act.
The US Chamber of Commerce said it “would undermine worker rights, ensnare employers in unrelated labor disputes, disrupt the economy, and force individual Americans to pay union dues regardless of their wishes.”
Notable
- Business groups are skeptical of Chavez-DeRemer because of her pro-union positions and have worked to build contacts elsewhere in the Trump administration, Politico reported.
Burgess Everett contributed reporting.