Trump labor secretary pick backs right to work, disavows past support for union-tilted PRO Act

President Trump’s pick to be labor secretary, former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, disavowed her past support for the union-tilted Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Chavez-DeRemer told the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday that she fully supported state right to work laws, which the PRO Act would have repealed. She said she opposed other provisions of the act as well, such as its expansion of joint employer rules.

Chavez-DeRemer’s past support for the PRO-Act had earned her nomination the backing of labor leaders such as International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who was present at the Senate hearing. However, that support also presented a red flag to members of the business community and to Senate Republicans.

Her testimony was a clear sign that the Trump administration had heard the concerns of the latter groups and was seeking to allay worries that she would be a pro-union labor secretary. It appeared to mollify many of the committee’s Republicans while disappointing Democrats.

“I know there has been a lot of conversation about my support for the PRO Act,” Chavez-DeRemer told the senators. The nominee repeatedly called the controversial legislation, which was never taken up by the full Senate, “imperfect.”  She claimed that she only signed onto to the legislation to have “a seat at the table” for any potential changes to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the law the legislation would have amended.

She argued that her support for the PRO Act was irrelevant now that she was no longer a lawmaker and instead sought to portray herself as unifying figure would create a “level playing field” and bring both sides to the table.

“My guiding principle will be Trump’s guiding principle,” she testified.

The PRO-Act was largely a collection of provisions that would have given labor leaders more power to tell workers to get in line, limiting their ability to dissent from unions. Its main provision would have overturned right to work laws in 26 states. Without the laws, workers can be fired for refusing to support unions.

Supporters of the PRO Act, such as the committee’s ranking member of the Democratic coalition, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an avowed socialist, argued it was crucial because corporations were suppressing unions and encouraging more people to join unions would limit corporate power. Critics of the PRO Act, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), argued it would limit workers’ freedom to make their own choices.

“The PRO Act wasn’t just about organizing,” Paul said. “It was about overturning right to work laws.”

“I fully and fairly support states that want to support their right to work,” Chavez-DeRemer replied.

Many senators pressed Chavez-DeRemer on whether she supported other provisions of the legislation. She announced that she supported the courts overturning the National Labor Relations Board’s “joint employer” rulemaking. The PRO Act included a similar provision that would have codified the rule into law.

Her nomination was controversial in part because she has little background in the field of labor policy. She was a small-town mayor prior to getting elected to Congress in 2022 and only served on the House Education and the Workforce Committee for a single term. Trump’s pick to be the second-ranking official at the Labor Department, Keith Sonderling, was a veteran of the department.

One concern expressed by several senators was whether Chavez-DeRemer would back congressional appropriations for her department or refuse to spend sums if President Trump directed her to do that, which would violate the Impoundment Control Act.

“I do not believe the president will ask me to violate the law,” Chavez-DeRemer said.