Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer leaving Trump administration, in latest exit from Cabinet

Washington — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving the Trump administration, the White House confirmed Monday. 

White House communications director Steven Cheung said Chavez-DeRemer is taking a position in the private sector. After the White House announcement, Chavez-DeRemer called it “an honor and a privilege” to serve in the administration. 

The department’s Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling will take on the role of acting secretary, Cheung said. 

Her departure marks the latest member of President Trump’s Cabinet to exit the administration in recent weeks. Mr. Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was replaced in March. 

Chavez-DeRemer had been under scrutiny, with several news outlets reporting that her conduct was under investigation by the Labor Department’s internal watchdog. CBS News has not confirmed the existence of the investigation. The Labor Department inspector general’s office declined to comment on Monday, and an official would not confirm the existence of an investigation or a status of a report. 

The New York Times reported last week that the department’s inspector general was looking at text messages sent by Chavez-DeRemer, her top aides and family members to young staffers.

Chavez-DeRemer’s husband was barred from the department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., after two women who work there reported that he had touched them inappropriately, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News earlier this year. 

Chavez-DeRemer previously served one term as a Republican congresswoman from Oregon before losing her bid for reelection.

While in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer was one of a handful of Republicans to cosponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a suite of changes to federal union protections backed by Democrats and major labor groups. The AFL-CIO, a large federation of unions, praised Chavez-DeRemer’s record when she was nominated, but was skeptical of Mr. Trump’s views on organized labor.