Trump’s Labor Secretary Steps Down: Ethics Investigation Sparks Resignation

Lori Chavez-Deremer, who served as Labor Secretary under President Donald Trump, has stepped down from her post.

In a statement shared on X, Steven Cheung, the White House Communications Director, announced on Monday evening that “Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to pursue a career in the private sector.”

Cheung praised her contributions, stating, “She has excelled in her role, safeguarding American workers, implementing equitable labor policies, and assisting Americans in acquiring new skills for personal advancement. Keith Sonderling will assume the position of Acting Secretary of Labor.”

Chavez-Deremer’s resignation follows a prolonged ethics investigation triggered by allegations of misconduct from late last year. Additionally, her husband is currently under scrutiny by the department’s Inspector General for sending inappropriate text messages to younger female staff members.

This recent development adds to the troubles of a department already mired in controversy, with earlier accusations involving alcohol-fueled work trips to strip clubs, illicit activities at casinos, and a stash of liquor discovered in the Washington, D.C., office.

Chavez-Deremer and her ex-deputy chief of staff sent texts asking staffers to bring them alcohol during work trips on behalf of the department. At times, the requests came during the middle of the workday.

She even allegedly drank on the job, with the Labor Department Inspector General’s complaint claiming that the Labor Secretary maintains ‘a stash’ of bourbon, Kahlua and champagne at her office in Washington DC. 

Additionally, the New York Post has reported that Chavez-DeRemer took her subordinates to a strip club in Oregon last year.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-Deremer has resigned

Deremer was the subject of an ethics probe regarding alcohol in the office and an alleged affair with one of her security guards

Ex-Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer with her husband Shawn Deremer. Shawn Deremer was hit with accusations he sexually harassed a Labor Department staffer late last year. However, charges were never brought against the former secretary’s husband

The alleged trip on April 18, 2025 to the club Angels PDX took place at the end of a five-day trip intended for a meeting with the state’s Democratic governor Tina Kotek, a CEO of a truck manufacturer and a tour of an Intel chip center, the Post reported.

According to documents seen by the outlet, a total of $2,890.06 of taxpayer’s money was used for the trip to Oregon.

Further, the former Labor Secretary was allegedly involved with one of her security guards in an affair. 

Brian Sloan, the security guard, stepped down from his position last week, after being accused of having a romantic affair with the 57-year-old married Labor Secretary, Politico reports, citing two department officials.

He had previously been placed on leave amid the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General’s probe into allegations that Chavez-DeRemer engaged in unprofessional conduct.

Chavez-Deremer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, was also steeped in controversy.

He texted young female staffers and was the subject of a sexual harassment probe before being barred from the department’s DC headquarters. 

Video of the interaction caught on security cameras shows Dr Deremer ‘giving one of the women an extended embrace’ and has been reviewed by law enforcement.

The secretary’s departure is the third Cabinet-level shakeup Trump’s inner-circle has seen since the start of his second term

According to a police report obtained by The Daily Mail, a woman told DC’s Metropolitan Police Department that she was sexually assault in the department’s building on December 18.

The Labor Department and the federal prosecutor’s office later decided against bringing charges against Shawn Deremer.

The secretary’s departure is the third Cabinet-level shakeup Trump’s inner-circle has seen since the start of his second term. 

All three have taken place in the last month and a half, with Kristi Noem leaving the Department of Homeland Security in early March and Pam Bondi leaving the Justice Department in early April.