Thank you to Senators Paul, McConnell, and Budd for voting against the worst Republican labor secretary of our lifetime.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed as secretary of labor on Monday — with the support of all but three Senate Republicans. During her one and only term in the House before she was defeated last year, she supported the PRO Act, a bill that would overturn right-to-work laws in every state and restrict independent contracting, and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would force every state to recognize public-sector unions for all government employees and overturn many Republican union reforms that have been good for taxpayers.
The fundamental problem with Chavez-DeRemer is that her record is pro-union, not pro-worker. Workers, including union workers, support right-to-work laws, which simply say that union membership must be voluntary. Workers support the ability to be an independent contractor, and many prefer it to traditional employment (80 percent of current independent contractors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics). And it’s workers who are harmed when public-sector unions are permitted to negotiate against them as taxpayers.
Workers have been leaving unions for decades. The membership rate has trended downward since the 1960s and today stands at a record low of 5.9 percent in the private sector. About half of union members in the U.S. today work for the government, and about one-third are members of the two largest teachers’ unions. In more traditionally blue-collar, male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing, 90 percent and 92 percent of workers, respectively, are not union members.
These declines have come despite nonstop positive coverage of organized labor from the mainstream media. During Biden’s presidency especially, the media hyped every local organizing drive as though it was the harbinger of a great union resurgence. And yet, workers continued to leave unions, as unions have continued to be little more than progressive activist groups that use workers’ money for causes they do not support.
These were all facts that Republican senators recognized and acted upon. They supported legislation such as the National Right-to-Work Act, which would amend the Wagner Act to make every state right-to-work, and the Employee Rights Act, which would protect workers from underhanded union tactics that violate their privacy and freedom.
But then Donald Trump nominated Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of labor, on the recommendation of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien. And most previously stalwart supporters of what workers actually want, not what unions say they want, flipped to support her.
The unions know who they are getting in Chavez-DeRemer. The AFL-CIO said it was “encouraged” by her confirmation, “given her history of supporting the freedom of workers to organize, join unions and other fundamental values of the labor movement.” In her 2024 campaign for Congress, she was endorsed by several unions, including the largest federal employees’ union, the AFGE, which is currently suing the Trump administration over DOGE and other issues.
Her nomination for secretary of labor was endorsed by Sara Nelson, the far-left friend of Bernie Sanders who leads the Association of Flight Attendants. Nelson is also a pro-abortion zealot, and Chavez-DeRemer worked for Planned Parenthood earlier in her career.
During her confirmation hearing, Chavez-DeRemer said she supports Biden’s union pension bailout from the all-Democratic American Rescue Plan Act, which transferred $86 billion from taxpayers to irresponsible union pension funds with no strings attached.
Senator Rand Paul (Ky.) took the lead in opposing Chavez-DeRemer from the Republican side. The author of the National Right-to-Work Act in the Senate, he announced early on that he would be voting against her nomination. He predicted about 15 other Republican senators could join him.
Unfortunately, only two did. Senators Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Ted Budd (N.C.) are the only other Republicans who joined Paul in voting “no.”
“The American people demand and deserve change after four years of economic heartache under the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’ Unfortunately, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record pushing policies that force hardworking Americans into union membership suggests more of the same,” McConnell said. Budd did not make a public statement on his vote.
These three are the only Republican senators who stood up for workers when it came time to count the votes. Senator Bill Cassidy (La.), chairman of the committee that oversaw Chavez-DeRemer’s hearing and a vocal supporter of right-to-work, voted for her. Senator Tim Scott (S.C.), who wrote the Senate version of the Employee Rights Act, voted for her.
Only one Republican senator who used to support right-to-work has flip-flopped on the issue completely, Josh Hawley (Mo.). He signed the National Right to Work Committee’s candidate pledge during his 2018 campaign for Senate but said in 2023 that he would not vote for a national right-to-work bill. He has since become one of the few Republican recipients of Teamsters’ campaign donations, and his performance during Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing was closer to poetry than it was to questioning.
Most of the rest of the GOP conference have not been transformed into union cheerleaders. They still recognize that unions do not have workers’ best interests at heart and often act as arms of the Democratic Party, supporting Republicans’ electoral opponents with donations and volunteers. Yet, when it came time to confirm Chavez-DeRemer, only Paul, McConnell, and Budd voted consistent with their principles. They understand that “pro-worker” does not mean “pro-union,” even when the president wants them to pretend that it does.