US Labor Secretary is leaving the Trump administration

Lori Chavez-DeRemer is set to step down as US secretary of labour, the White House said, ending a turbulent tenure overshadowed by scandal and complaints about how young female staff members were treated.

Her departure follows weeks of mounting questions over her future and comes on the heels of the exits of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Taken together, the departures have underscored the rapid turnover among women in Mr Trump’s cabinet in recent weeks.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X, while crediting her with doing a “phenomenal job” in the post.

The former congresswoman, whose confirmation won support from more than a dozen Democrats, had recently come under intensifying pressure to resign amid allegations that she, senior aides and members of her family regularly sent personal messages and requests to young staffers.

According to the Times, Ms Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father also exchanged text messages with young female staff members, some of whom she had instructed to “pay attention” to the two men.

The messages were collected during an investigation into Ms Chavez-DeRemer’s leadership that was opened after a complaint alleging widespread misconduct. That inquiry also surfaced concerns from staff members who said she appeared detached from the department’s work.

The Times reported that four people have been pushed out of her team as a result of the investigation, among them her former chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, director of advance and a member of her security detail with whom she was accused of having an affair.

Three staff members have filed civil rights complaints alleging a hostile work environment, the Times reported.

In one April 2025 exchange reviewed by the newspaper, Ms Chavez-DeRemer’s father, Richard Chavez, texted a young female staff member: “Hearing u/r in town. Wishing you would let me know. I could have made some excuses to get out and show u around. Please keep this private.”

Ms Chavez-DeRemer, who represented Oregon for one term in the House, has not herself been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the matter involving her father and husband.

But MS NOW reported that two complaints were submitted by young female staffers accusing Ms Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, of having “subjected them to unwanted sexual touching late last year when they were working at US Department of Labor offices.”

Mr Cheung said deputy labour secretary Keith Sonderling would take over as acting labour secretary, though it remains unclear whom Mr Trump may choose as a permanent successor.