Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has resigned according to two sources with knowledge of the decision, making her the third Cabinet member to depart during President Donald Trump's second term.
Chavez-DeRemer had been facing a probe from the Labor Department’s inspector general for potential misconduct. That investigation has already resulted in multiple of her top staffers being placed on administrative leave and then ultimately leaving their posts.
Nick Oberheiden, an attorney for Chavez-DeRemer, told NBC News on Monday that her resignation “is not the result of legal wrongdoings. It is a personal decision.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung on Monday confirmed Chavez-DeRemer's departure.
"Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector," Cheung said in a post on X, adding that Keith Sonderling will be acting labor secretary.
In a statement posted to her X account, Chavez-DeRemer thanked Trump.
“While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers. I am looking forward to what the future has in store as I depart for the private sector,” she wrote.
The news outlet NOTUS first reported her departure. It comes after Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general and Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security.
Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure as labor secretary has been marred by multiple allegations of misconduct, including an investigation into whether she pursued a romantic relationship with a subordinate and accusations of sexual assault against Chavez-DeRemer’s husband.
In early March, two of the labor secretary’s top aides resigned following an investigation into whether they committed “travel fraud” by setting up formal events for Chavez-DeRemer as an excuse for personal travel. The secretary also faced a formal internal complaint alleging that she pursued an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, a member of her security detail, who was placed on leave in January.
Oberheiden, her attorney, told NBC News at the time, “It is not in Secretary Chavez DeRemer ’s interest to comment on unverified (and unverifiable) information that potentially stems from inside sources like investigators who, under federal law, would have been barred from disclosing investigate details. What motive other than political ambush, one may ask, would anyone have to leak updates on an internal audit?”
The New York Times reported in February that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, was banned from the Labor Department’s headquarters after two women who work at the agency accused him of sexual assault over alleged inappropriate touching. The newspaper cited people familiar with the decision and a police report it obtained.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeannie Pirro told NBC News at the time that, “Based upon the evidence presented to this office in relation to the video, there is no indication of a crime.”
The law firm representing Shawn DeRemer said in a March 12 statement that he “categorically denies every allegation.”
The inspector general probe at the Labor Department has been going on for months but is nearly complete. One of the final components was going to be interview with Chavez-DeRemer. After some back and forth, that interview had been scheduled for this week, according to source familiar with the matter.
The Labor Department and inspector general's office did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.
"The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump's mission," Chavez-DeRemer said Monday night in a post on X from her personal account.
During Chavez-DeRemer's time as labor secretary, career officials at times became targets of the president. In August, Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a weak jobs report, a move that shocked former Labor Department officials.
Chavez-DeRemer, a former congresswoman who lost her reelection bid in 2024, faced an uphill battle early on just to secure her Cabinet post. After Trump nominated her, Republican senators questioned her past support for labor unions and the job she had at a Planned Parenthood clinic for a little more than a year in 1989 and 1990.
The Senate eventually confirmed her in March 2025 in a 67-32 vote.
