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Lori Chavez-DeRemer is going to need help from Rand Paul, Democrats, or both if she wants to become Donald Trump’s labor secretary. She’s about to get a preview of how hard that may be.
The former Republican congresswoman is already boxed in ahead of her confirmation hearing this week before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She has more bipartisan appeal than most other Trump nominees, but the committee’s membership and growing Democratic outrage at Trump are complicating her path to the Cabinet.
Paul, R-Ky., is a senior committee member and Chavez-DeRemer opponent for now, citing her support of the pro-union PRO Act while she served in the House. She’s finding fewer Democratic fans than she might have hoped for, too, as the party protests Trump’s moves to unilaterally dismantle huge portions of the federal government.
“You can do the numbers,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the committee overseeing her nomination, told Semafor. “We need a majority. We need somebody else to vote if Rand’s going to vote negative … Rand is a chair of the right-to-work caucus. So once he establishes something, it’s hard to move him off.”
Cassidy said he’ll try to sway Paul on Chavez-DeRemer, but Democratic support may be an easier path. The committee’s 11 Democrats include several with bipartisan inclinations, and Chavez-DeRemer will have to convince some of them that she’ll stand up for the Labor Department even if Trump comes for it — one of the last flashpoints left as Trump stocks his adviser ranks with loyalists.
Some Democrats on the committee are already against her. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said he had a “good conversation” with Chavez-DeRemer but questioned whether anyone at the administration would listen to the labor secretary. His bottom line: “I’m not supporting nominees as long as the lawlessness continues.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was even more blunt: “I’m a hard no on her. And it’s not a protest vote. It’s about her character and commitment to the Constitution. She didn’t bow out of this job when she found out Trump was going to force her to act illegally.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the top Democrat on the committee, and former chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., both said they’ll wait for the hearing before commenting. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said she’s not ruling out a yes vote just yet: “I’ll give her a fair shake.”
Asked about Democrats souring on all Trump nominations as he steamrolls over Congress, she said: “There are folks with sentiment. I try to view each nominee through the lens of whether they will help or hurt Wisconsin.”
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Trump’s trio of most controversial nominees took a different path than Chavez-DeRemer. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. all relied on GOP muscle to overcome unanimous Democratic resistance in both committee and the floor.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who does not serve on the labor committee, told Semafor he’ll support Chavez-DeRemer, which means she could lose four Republicans and still be confirmed on the floor. She does not yet have a Democratic supporter on the committee, but Republicans are warming to her.
“I’ll support her,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “I love it that we’re bringing a little different voice than most Republican administrations would have.”
Even Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who introduced a national-right-to-work bill with Paul, said he could be swayed by her hearing if she emphasizes she’s “pro-right-to-work.” Tuberville predicted “she’ll be fine” as long as her hearing goes well.
“I hope she’s not in trouble. If Republicans vote against her, I think that that will signal that the moment of cooperation between Senate Republicans and the White House is over,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., one of the party’s most pro-labor members. “Once you have a break on one, you’re going to get a break on all the other stuff too,”
If Chavez-DeRemer were to lose another committee Republican beyond Paul, it could be a big problem. Nominees can move to the floor with a non-favorable recommendation in the Senate, but it’s rare. Republicans were able to avoid that outcome on Gabbard, even as they weighed it as a back-up option.
The View From John Fetterman
Fetterman voted against several of Trump’s nominees. But Chavez-DeRemer seems like a slam dunk for him.
“Is she controversial now? She was very pro-labor and supported the Pro Act, and I plan to vote yes, until they find a way that she’s controversial and turn it into more drama,” he told Semafor.
Burgess’s view
Rand Paul can be hard to move, but I’m skeptical Chavez-DeRemer will be bottled up even if he holds firm against her. Recall that Paul flipped his vote on Mike Pompeo to be secretary of state in the Foreign Relations Committee back in 2018 — a vote that also included a “present” vote from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to help things along.
Bottom line: Chavez-DeRemer is the type of nominee who would sail through under normal circumstances. Democrats see Trump’s first few weeks as anything but that, yet it’s also hard to imagine any Chavez-DeRemer replacement being an improvement in their eyes.
Notable
- Rand Paul wants a public statement from Chavez-DeRemer renouncing her support for the PRO Act, according to Business Insider.
- Chavez-DeRemer once worked at Planned Parenthood, according to NBC.