Chavez-DeRemer is the third high-profile female official to leave the Trump administration, following the recent departures of Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi.
Published on 21 April 2026
U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will leave her post in President Donald Trump’s administration, the White House said.
Chavez-Deremer is the third woman to leave the Trump administration since March, when the president fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the wake of federal immigration raids in Minnesota that left two protesters dead. Trump also fired Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.
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White House communications director Steven Cheung announced the Labor secretary’s departure in a post on Twitter late Monday, saying Chavez-DeRemer has done “phenomenal work” to protect American workers and is “ready to take a position in the private sector.”
“Keith Sonderling will assume the role of acting Labor secretary,” Cheung said, referring to the current deputy labor secretary.
While Cheung did not give a reason for Chávez-DeRemer’s departure, the New York Post reported in January that he was under investigation for “having an ‘inappropriate’ relationship with a subordinate” and drinking alcohol in his office during the work day.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently confirm the allegations.
From the beginning of her tenure, Chávez-Deremer had some notable disagreements with other members of Trump’s inner circle.
He voiced support for the pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), which garnered support from some Democrats for his nomination.
His appointment was also seen as an endorsement of International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who notably spoke in support of Trump’s re-election campaign at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.
However, according to US media outlets, as Secretary of Labor, Chávez-DeRemer’s positions are more closely aligned with the overall anti-regulatory policies of the Trump administration. During his tenure as Secretary, the Department of Labor stopped responding to calls for limits on silica exposure of Appalachian coal miners suffering from occupational black lung disease.
Chavez-DeRemer is not the first top official to leave the Labor Department during Trump’s second term.
In August 2025, Trump fired Erica McEntiffer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), who was appointed by previous President Joe Biden, after a report revealed that hiring had slowed in July and that hiring in May and June was worse than previously reported.
Chávez-Deremar supported the president’s move at the time.
“I support the President’s decision to replace Biden with the commissioner and ensure that the American people can trust the important and impactful data coming from BLS,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a post on Twitter after McEntiffer’s removal.
