Trump's pro-union labor secretary pick surprises some, faces criticism on abortion

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Labor Department, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., surprised some political observers for her union-friendly positions, but also faced criticism from some business groups, as well as from pro-life conservatives concerned about her record on abortion.

Trump in November said he intended to nominate Chavez-DeRemer, seen as a moderate Republican who recently lost her own reelection bid in November in Oregon's 5th Congressional District, to the Cabinet post.

In a statement, Trump said Chavez-DeRemer "has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America's workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America."

"I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs," Trump said. "Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families."

Clayton Sinyai, executive director of the Catholic Labor Network, an association of Catholic union activists and clergy seeking to foster Catholic social teaching on labor and work, told OSV News it was "a pleasant surprise to see the newly elected president nominate a genuine supporter of labor, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, as the new Secretary of Labor."

Chavez-DeRemer, he noted, "was one of a handful of Republican representatives to vote in support of the PRO Act, a law protecting workers trying to form a union." The legislation, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, did not reach the Senate floor in the current Congress.

"She'll have a challenging job, because the new Cabinet is filled with anti-union billionaires and he's taking advice from the stridently anti-worker Elon Musk," Sinyai said. "I am praying that the president listens to her wise counsel concerning labor issues rather than those of his other advisers."

Although Chavez-DeRemer was not among the more controversial selections made by Trump for his Cabinet, some Republicans argued that her voting record was more union-friendly than business-friendly. Others expressed alarm at her position on abortion.

Advancing American Freedom, a political advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, circulated a memo opposing her nomination, arguing, "While in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer undermined conservative free market principles and betrayed the pro-life movement. Conservatives should oppose Lori Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary."

The memo argued Chavez-Deremer "initially ran for Congress on a pro-life platform and was endorsed by leading pro-life groups, pledging to support pro-life legislation including a heartbeat protection bill."

But "once elected to Congress," it continued, "Chavez-DeRemer flip-flopped and opposed legislation that would have stopped taxpayers from paying for abortions and ended the Biden-Harris Administration's illegal mail-order abortion scheme."

As a member of Congress, Chavez-DeRemer did vote in favor of measures including the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and a condemnation of violence at pro-life facilities.

But in a June debate in her congressional race, she argued, "I haven't hesitated to stand up to members of my own party on these issues -- even killing a bill last year that would have restricted access to mifepristone nationwide."

Mifepristone is paired with misoprostol as part of a medication-based regimen used in more than half of all U.S. abortions in 2020. However, the same pill combination is also prescribed to women who experience early miscarriage in order to expel any fetal remains and residual pregnancy tissue from the womb.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and, as such, opposes direct abortion. At the same time, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child and have called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or facing other circumstances that can push women toward having an abortion.

Trump was encouraged to select Chavez-DeRemer for the role by the president of the Teamsters, Sean O'Brien, Politico reported. The union declined to make an endorsement in the presidential race, but O'Brien was given a prominent speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in July.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a prominent member of the Democratic Party's progressive wing, signaled that she may support Chavez-DeRemer for the role, arguing if she "commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power," she would be "a strong candidate for the job."

"Right-to-work" groups, which oppose unions and organized labor, and advocate for laws prohibiting a company and a union from signing a contract that requires workers to pay dues or fees to the union that represents them, argued against Chavez-DeRemer's selection. A letter from Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, to Trump argued "a few union bosses will praise her, and Big Labor will still go on to campaign vigorously to elect a Democrat in the 2028 Presidential Election."

The right to unionize and seek workplace equity -- and to strike, if necessary -- is fundamental to Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIII, St. John XXIII, St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all expounded on unionized labor topics, in both official and unofficial pronouncements.

The U.S. Catholic bishops, in their 1986 pastoral letter "Economic Justice for All," also taught Catholics should "use the resources of our faith, the strength of our economy, and the opportunities of our democracy to shape a society that better protects the dignity and basic rights of our sisters and brothers, both in this land and around the world."