--- title: Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns description: The news comes amid a monthslong investigation into Chavez-DeRemer's leadership of the federal agency that stemmed from allegations of misconduct. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-04-20T23:22:26.723Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-20T23:21:56.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns og:description: The news comes amid a monthslong investigation into Chavez-DeRemer's leadership of the federal agency that stemmed from allegations of misconduct. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1bd2609113401e3/69e69a974bdd6704ca5d3896/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns twitter:description: The news comes amid a monthslong investigation into Chavez-DeRemer's leadership of the federal agency that stemmed from allegations of misconduct. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1bd2609113401e3/69e69a974bdd6704ca5d3896/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Following Misconduct Allegations > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 20, 2026 11:22 PM UTC  Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on February 19, 2025. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on February 19, 2025. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 20, 2026 11:22 PM UTC Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is stepping down from her position in [the Trump Administration](https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/who-has-trump-fired-the-high-ranking-officials-replaced-in-the-president-s-second-term/), a top White House official said on Monday. The news comes amid a monthslong investigation into her leadership of the federal agency that stemmed from allegations of misconduct. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a [post on X](https://x.com/stevencheung47/status/2046336343387558053?s=46&t=A9nAiCFa4ClszTwZajblig) that Chavez-DeRemer will be departing the Administration to take a job in the private sector, adding that “she has done a phenomenal job in her role.” Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling will serve as the Acting Secretary of Labor, Cheung said. Chavez-DeRemer said in a [post on X](https://x.com/SecretaryLCD/status/2046346589539795424) that evening that she was “proud” of the work that the department had accomplished. “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime,” she said. “Thank you, President Trump. While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers. I am looking forward to what the future has in store as I depart for the private sector.” “Under your reign, the Department of Labor reversed years of bad policy from the previous administration—cutting regulatory burdens, exposing fraud, boosting apprenticeships, and making life more affordable for hardworking Americans,” he said of Chavez-DeRemer. He went on to thank Trump “for the opportunity to serve as Acting Secretary of Labor.” Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation marks the third departure from the President’s Cabinet in recent weeks; Trump removed [Kristi Noem](https://time.com/7382719/kristi-noem-removed-homeland-security-secretary-markwayne-mullin/) as his Homeland Security Secretary in March, followed by [Pam Bondi](https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/pam-bondi-out-as-trump-s-attorney-general/) as his Attorney General earlier this month. The news of Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation, first reported by [NOTUS](https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/lori-chavez-deremer-ousted), follows a series of civil rights complaints inside the agency under her leadership, as well as an investigation conducted by the agency’s inspector general’s office into the conduct of Chavez-DeRemer and her senior aides. The claims against her include allegations that she had an affair with a subordinate, who was a member of her security team, as well as allegations that she drank alcohol during the workday. Chavez-DeRemer was also accused of using department resources for personal travel. The [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/us/politics/labor-secretary-text-messages.html) reported last week that the Department of Labor’s inspector general’s office was reviewing personal messages that Chavez-DeRemer, her top aides, and her family members had exchanged with department employees, including ones that Chavez-DeRemer and her former deputy chief of staff had sent requesting that staffers bring them wine, at times during the workday. Other text messages, reviewed by the _Times,_ were reportedly exchanged between Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and young female employees. In February, the [Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/business/labor-secretary-husband-sexual-assault-allegations.html)reported that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband was prohibited from entering the Department of Labor’s headquarters, after two women who worked at the agency accused him of sexually assaulting them. One of the staffers filed a report with local police in January. Police opened a sexual assault investigation, but the authorities ultimately declined to bring charges against Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, according to the [Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/business/economy/labor-secretary-misconduct-complaints.html)_._ Several of Chavez-DeRemer’s top aides have also reportedly been the subject of investigation. Four people at the agency have been forced out of their positions, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former deputy chief of staff and the security official whom she was accused of engaging in a relationship with. The White House and Department of Labor previously denied any wrongdoing amid reporting on the investigation earlier this year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/"},"headline":"Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Following Misconduct Allegations","datePublished":"2026-04-20T23:22:26.723Z","dateModified":"2026-04-20T23:21:56.000Z","description":"The news comes amid a monthslong investigation into Chavez-DeRemer's leadership of the federal agency that stemmed from allegations of misconduct.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1bd2609113401e3/69e69a974bdd6704ca5d3896/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1bd2609113401e3/69e69a974bdd6704ca5d3896/lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"lori-chavez-deremer-labor-secretary-trump-administration.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-out-trump-administration/","name":"Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Following Misconduct Allegations"}}]}] ```