Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer (; Chavez; born April 7, 1968) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the United States secretary of labor from 2025 until her resignation in 2026. A member of the Republican Party, Chavez-DeRemer served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's fifth congressional district from 2023 to 2025 and as the mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon, from 2011 to 2019.
Chavez-DeRemer graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1990. She worked various jobs before being elected to the Happy Valley City Council in 2004. Chavez-DeRemer was elected mayor of Happy Valley in 2010, becoming the first woman and the first Latina to serve as the city's mayor. She was reelected in 2014. In 2016, she ran in that year's Oregon House of Representatives election for the state's 51st district, losing to the Democratic nominee, Janelle Bynum. She lost to Bynum again in the 2018 election for the district.
By 2021, Chavez-DeRemer had begun campaigning in the 2022 United States House of Representatives election for Oregon's fifth congressional district. She won the Republican primary in May and defeated the Democratic nominee, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, in November. Chavez-DeRemer became the first Republican woman and one of the first Latinas, alongside Andrea Salinas, to represent Oregon in the United States Congress. She lost to Bynum in the 2024 election for the district.
In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Chavez-DeRemer as his nominee for the secretary of labor. She appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in February 2025. Chavez-DeRemer positioned herself as pro-labor. The Senate voted to confirm her in March, and she was sworn in that month. Amid several investigations into alleged misconduct by her and her relatives, Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April 2026.
Early life and education (1968–1990) Lori Michelle Chavez was born on April 7, 1968, in Santa Clara, California. Chavez is Hispanic. Her father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Chavez was raised in Hanford, California. She graduated from Hanford High School in 1986. Chavez was on Hanford's cheerleading team. She worked as a peach packer and a cashier to afford the team uniform. Chavez received a Bachelor of Business Administration from California State University, Fresno, in 1990; she was the first person in her family to graduate from college. Chavez is Catholic.
Career Early work and mayor of Happy Valley (1989–2019) From January 1989 to May 1990, DeRemer worked as a receptionist at a Planned Parenthood clinic in California. By November, she was employed as a medical consultant. That month, she was engaged to Shawn DeRemer, a surgical technician who attended Hanford High School; they married in May 1991 and had two children. They attended medical school at the same time, but Chavez-DeRemer later withdrew to support DeRemer. She worked various jobs, including cooking, babysitting, and teaching mathematics. Chavez-DeRemer and DeRemer moved to Happy Valley, Oregon, in 2000. Chavez-DeRemer served on the Happy Valley Parks Committee in 2002 and was elected to the Happy Valley City Council in 2004, later serving as the city council's president. In 2010, she was elected mayor of Happy Valley becoming the first woman and the first Latina to serve as the city's mayor. Chavez-DeRemer served as mayor for eight years. She worked as a business consultant for Evolve Health from 2019 until her election to the United States House of Representatives in 2022.
Oregon campaigns (2016–2018) On January 27, 2016, Chavez-DeRemer announced that she would run in that year's Oregon House of Representatives election for the state's 51st district as a Republican. She was endorsed by the Happy Valley city council and Clackamas County's Democratic commissioner, Martha Schrader. Shemia Fagan, a Democrat who had occupied the seat since 2012, ended her reelection campaign in March, citing family commitments; according to The Oregonian, Fagan had been in "tough race" against Chavez-DeRemer. The Democratic nominee, Janelle Bynum, defeated Chavez-DeRemer in the general election on November 8. It was the most expensive election in the history of the Oregon House of Representatives.
In June 2017, Chavez-DeRemer established a political action committee to examine a possible campaign in the 2018 Oregon gubernatorial election. In October, she declined to run in the election and instead ran for the 2018 Oregon House of Representatives election for the state's 51st district against Bynum, a McDonald's franchisee. As Bynum installed kiosks at her restaurants, Chavez-DeRemer's campaign focused on labor and automation. Bynum defeated Chavez-DeRemer in the general election on November 6. In January 2021, Chavez-DeRemer and her husband refinanced their home in Oregon and bought a home in Fountain Hills, Arizona, with the intent to retire there. They moved back to Oregon while DeRemer pursued residency in Arizona.
U.S. House of Representatives (2023–2025) Initial campaign
By November 2021, Chavez-DeRemer had declared her candidacy in the 2022 United States House of Representatives election for Oregon's fifth congressional district; at the time of her announcement, she lived in Happy Valley, in Oregon's third congressional district. By March 2022, Chavez-DeRemer and the investor Jimmy Crumpacker had raised significantly more funds than their opponents in the Republican primary. Chavez-DeRemer won the Republican primary on May 17.
The general election was the state's most competitive election and one of the most competitive in the country that year, according to The Oregonian; FiveThirtyEight deemed it one of ten that would decide the composition of the 118th United States Congress. Chavez-DeRemer's campaign focused on the global energy crisis, the inflation surge, and rising crime. Chavez-DeRemer defeated McLeod-Skinner in the general election on November 8. Her victory was the first for a Republican in Oregon's fifth congressional district since 1994. She became the first Republican woman and one of the first Latinas, alongside Andrea Salinas, to represent Oregon in Congress.
Tenure and reelection campaign Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in on January 7, 2023, after the Speaker of the House of Representatives election delayed the swearing in of new members. She was involved in discussions on a successor bill to the Agriculture Improvement Act, advocating for the accessibility of crop insurance and child care. Chavez-DeRemer introduced 24 bills into Congress. Two of them, expanding healthcare services to veterans and supporting poison control and overdose prevention programs, were signed into law.
By April 2023, Chavez-DeRemer had already begun fundraising for the 2024 United States House of Representatives election for Oregon's fifth congressional district. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sought to oust her as early as July. By that month, she had raised $1.4 million for her campaign. In January 2024, a former caseworker in Chavez-DeRemer's office filed a federal employment-discrimination lawsuit, claiming that she was discriminated against for having a disability. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2025 after a settlement, the amount of which was believed to be about $98,000.
The election for Oregon's fifth congressional district was again the state's most competitive. Chavez-DeRemer ran unopposed in the Republican primary. She debated the Democratic nominee, Janelle Bynum, on abortion, crime, and citizen engagement in October. In an effort to attract moderate voters, Chavez-DeRemer's campaign focused on anti-crime messaging. She connected Bynum to progressive policies, which she attributed to higher crime, overdoses, and homelessness. The election was seen as one of several that would determine the composition of the 119th Congress. Bynum defeated Chavez-DeRemer in the general election on November 5.
Committee assignments In January 2023, Chavez-DeRemer was assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture. She additionally served on the House Committees on Education and Workforce and on Transportation and Infrastructure. In April, Chavez-DeRemer and Florida representative Jared Moskowitz founded the Congressional Sneaker Caucus. In August, Politico reported that Chavez-DeRemer was interested in taking Utah representative Chris Stewart's seat on the House Committee on Appropriations after his expected resignation.
Secretary of Labor (2025–2026) Nomination and confirmation In November 2024, after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Politico reported that International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien had encouraged Trump to nominate Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor. On November 22, Trump announced that he would do so. Her nomination represented a break from the Republican Party's traditional antagonism toward unions. Chavez-DeRemer was praised by some Democrats for supporting the Protecting the Right to Organize Act; conversely, her support of the bill was criticized by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville called her someone who "checks all the boxes for the left". Some business interests sought to temper her possible tenure by suggesting to Trump's presidential transition team business-friendly nominees in other positions. According to The New York Times, Chavez-DeRemer told officials that she would govern as a figurehead.
Chavez-DeRemer appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on February 19, 2025. She faced questions about her support of the bill and the actions of Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative had resulted in mass layoffs across the federal government. Chavez-DeRemer said she would support Trump's labor policies, that she did not believe Trump would ask her to violate the law in the service of Musk's efforts, and that it was Congress's authority to determine the federal minimum wage. She called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act an "imperfect bill", dismaying Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who initially appeared open to her nomination. The committee voted to advance her nomination on February 27 in a 14–9 vote largely along party lines; Paul voted against her nomination, while Virginia senator Tim Kaine, New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan, and Colorado senator John Hickenlooper voted in favor. Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed by the Senate in a 67–32 vote on March 10.
Initial tenure Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in on March 11, 2025. Her tenure coincided with DOGE's efforts to fire employees and dismantle programs. She announced the America at Work tour, a campaign to promote Trump's labor policy across the country, beginning in Scranton, Pennsylvania; she completed her tour in March. The tour occurred in the aftermath of Trump's Liberation Day tariffs, which set off a stock market crash. Chavez-DeRemer faced questions about a celebration at the Department of Labor's building that was obviously a birthday party for her, including photographs of herself and a rendition of "Happy Birthday to You". She told the House Committee on Appropriations that it was not a birthday party. In April, her chief of staff, Jihun Han, sent a memorandum to employees saying that employees who spoke with journalists would face "serious legal consequences". In May, Chavez-DeRemer moved to rescind guidance from the Biden administration warning fiduciaries of including cryptocurrencies in 401(k) investments. She worked against DOGE on lease cancellations it requested through the General Services Administration and sought to end the Job Corps program.
Misconduct investigations and resignation