Senate Republicans cast a wary eye on Trump’s nominee for labor secretary

WASHINGTON — A number of Senate Republicans have problems with President Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, citing pro-union stances she has taken in the past that clash with the business community.

“I’m not going to support her,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a senior member of the committee that will oversee her nomination, told NBC News on Monday. “I’m the national spokesman and lead author of the right-to-work bill. Her support for the PRO Act, which would not only oppose national right to work, but would preempt state law on right to work — I think it’s not a good thing.

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“And it’d be sort of hard for me, since it’s a big issue for me, to support her. So I won’t support her,” he said. “I think she’ll lose 15 Republicans,” Paul added, while predicting she would win some Democrats because “she’s very pro-labor.”

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hasn’t scheduled a hearing yet on Chavez-DeRemer, who represented a swing district in Oregon for one term before she lost re-election to a Democrat last fall. When asked if he’s told the White House about his opposition, Paul said, “You’re welcome to tell them.”

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The stark opposition from a Republican senator who is otherwise aligned with Trump points to the challenges ahead for Chavez-DeRemer, an unorthodox GOP pick who supported the PRO Act, which would beef up labor protections for employees to collectively bargain and expand the scope of what counts as an unfair labor practice. She has also earned qualified praise from traditionally Democratic-aligned labor groups, including the AFL-CIO.

For the same reasons, Chavez-DeRemer has drawn deep skepticism from the business lobby, which has had a strong relationship with Republicans for many years.

“My biggest concern going into a new Trump administration is the dramatic shift on labor unions, traditionally a large Democratic fundraising base,” a veteran business lobbyist said. “The nominee for labor secretary has shown previous support for anti-employer rights legislation, and there is no reason to believe that she won’t put people and policies in place to enact new employment regulations that restrict employer’s rights.”

“I hope I am wrong, but we could be headed into a difficult four years for public and private sector employees,” the person added.

A Trump spokesman did not return a request for comment for this story.

For now, at least, Democratic support is uncertain. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a champion of the labor movement and the top Democrat on the committee, declined to comment on her Monday.

“There’s a process with the hearings. We’ll ask our questions and we’ll see what she has to say,” Sanders said. When asked if he’s open-minded about her nomination, Sanders said, “I’m open-minded about everybody.”

Paul isn’t the only skeptical Republican. If his estimation is correct, Chavez-DeRemer would need significant Democratic support to be confirmed in the chamber, where the GOP has a 53-47 majority.

“It’s concerning,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., when asked about the Chavez-DeRemer nomination.

Johnson said he has questions for Chavez-DeRemer about the PRO Act in particular.

“Why would she support that?” Johnson said when asked what he would want to talk to Chavez-DeRemer about.

Another longtime Republican who in the past has lobbied for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed concern, and was unsure why Trump nominated Chavez-DeRemer.

“Yeah, that came out of left field,” the person said. “I think for the most part, many of Trump’s nominees were defensible, but this one caught everyone off guard.”

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., wouldn’t say if she’s a good nominee.

“I don’t know, because I don’t know her. I haven’t met her,” Hoeven said. “She’s not a traditional pick for a Republican president.”

“I’m a right-to-work guy,” the senator added. “I mean, there’s certain fundamental principles. For folks who want to collectively bargain and unionize, that’s fine. You’re allowed to do that, as long as it’s fair and open and all those kinds of things. But at the same time, I firmly believe in right to work. You can’t be mandated to join a union or something like that. So those are some of the kind of things that we need to talk about.”

Paul’s National Right-To-Work Act was cosponsored by 31 Republican senators in the last Congress. It would eliminate portions of the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act that allow pacts between employers and unions requiring employees to be union members when hired.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Trump is “entitled to his Cabinet, absent extraordinary circumstances” but added that it’s fair to call Chavez-DeRemer a non-traditional nominee.

“One of the biggest problems we’ve had, for example, with trade agreements has been that organized labor is allergic to them,” Cornyn said. “And so that’s something I would want to explore.”

Some Republicans are not yet weighing in.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chair of the powerful Finance Committee, said he hasn’t met with Chavez-DeRemer and has “not dived deeply into looking into” the nomination.

Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he wasn’t sure when Chavez-DeRemer’s hearing would be.

“We did meet,” he said, calling it an “excellent interview” where the nominee “answered all the questions in the right way.” But he stopped short of saying he was ready to vote for her just yet.

When asked about GOP concerns about her union-aligned positions, Cassidy said, “She’s very committed to representing the president’s viewpoint on such issues. And so I think that’s where she will be.”

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said Trump’s labor pick is consistent with his promise to be a different kind of president.

“The president is shaking things up in Washington,” he said. “I think that was one of the mandates he had from this last election — was to discontinue business as usual.”

Those in the business lobby that generally have a high degree of influence over Republican presidential administrations have also expressed both concern over the Chavez-DeRemer pick and acknowledge they have decreasing influence over a new Trump administration that increasingly relied on right-wing populist support.

That new base that Trump has catered to during his first week in office sees the business community as an enemy, not a friend.

There is an acknowledgement, however, that the once all-powerful business lobby has waning influence with the White House. In the past, groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had influential voices, but Trump ran a campaign focused on a populist messaging supported by right-wing conservative influencers who not only do not align with the old guard Republican power structure, but actively oppose its influence in the MAGA movement.

Trump did use his 2024 campaign to try and gain the support of at least some segments of organized labor in a way that, in the past, would have been considered unheard of from a Republican presidential candidate.

The most striking example was the invitation he extended to Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to speak at the Republican National Convention in July.

“The Teamsters are doing something correct if the extremes in both parties think I shouldn’t be on this stage,” O’Brien said, calling Trump a “tough S.O.B.”

The Teamsters leadership also approved an unprecedented $45,000 contribution to Trump’s campaign efforts.

O’Brien did not formally endorse Trump at the convention, but his appearance was a signal that was Trump trying to disrupt a political norm that expects organized labor to support Democrats. It was also a sign that traditional business interests may have less influence with the new version of the Republican Party Trump has ushered in.

“There are conversations that we are trying to have, but there is no clear indication anything is getting through,” the former Chamber of Commerce lobbyist noted.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who is less critical of unions than other conservatives, said he likes the Chavez-DeRemer nomination and is looking forward to her hearing.

“My message is: come on, guys. Let’s think about who voted for this president and got him in office. It’s a lot of those union voters,” Hawley said. “We need to do something for them. I think if we want to really be a working person’s party, we’re gonna have to do something for working people.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to love everything in the PRO Act,” he added. “I have concerns about that package. Fine. But I think reflexively, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s kind of close to labor! Danger, danger!’ I think we’ve got to get over that. But you’re talking to a guy who walked the picket line.”