This is another mother-of-all weeks for the Trump administration. Thanks to a D.C. snowstorm, the full Senate vote for Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard was postponed to Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., but Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) assured us that the clock had started on the HHS Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. nomination. While these high-profile cabinet picks captured national attention, the confirmation hearing for Secretary of Labor continues to slip under the radar, and I am convinced this is by design.
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🚨BREAKING: At 10:00a.m. on Wednesday, February 12, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Secretary of Labor.
— Senate HELP Committee GOP (@GOPHELP) February 5, 2025
On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee has scheduled the confirmation hearing of Secretary of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer. This agency commands upward of $70 billion in appropriations and holds a lofty mission “[t]o foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.” Instead of fostering, promoting, and developing an atmosphere where Americans can choose to do legal and noble work of their own, this agency has chosen to dictate and control the nature of work to a degree that often attempts to supersede the constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet Americans seem to have a veil over their eyes when it comes to what the U.S. DOL does and the nature and background of the individuals who are chosen to run it. Aside from the IRS, no other agency has greater input and oversight into the work most Americans do and how they do it.
We have documented well on RedState why the pro-union Lori Chavez-DeRemer is an ill-advised pick. Ahead of her confirmation hearing, there was an interesting development Tuesday night from Fox News senior correspondent Chad Pergram, a reliable source on Capitol Hill.
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Fox has learned that US Capitol Police are on the lookout for a former aide for Labor Secretary nominee and former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR).
The aide worked for the nominee when she served in the House.
Fox is told USCP believed the former aide broke into a locked door…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 11, 2025
Fox has learned that US Capitol Police are on the lookout for a former aide for Labor Secretary nominee and former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR).
The aide worked for the nominee when she served in the House.
Fox is told USCP believed the former aide broke into a locked door of the Cannon House Office Building today around 4 pm et.
The former aide still had a parking pass for the Cannon Building.
Fox is told that USCP pulled video of the suspect and officers were showing pictures of the man to Congressional aides as they pulled out of the Cannon garage, asking if they had seen him.
Fox is told the picture showed a man with a beard and wearing a hoodie.
We have no idea whether Chavez-DeRemer has any connection to the aide’s actions, but the behavior is typical of the union activists with whom she maintains a cozy relationship. It also gives greater weight to the fact that the U.S. DOL should receive the DOGE treatment. This agency has operated as an opaque unit for far too long, and that needs to change. Perhaps this confirmation hearing will bring certain things to light.
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Ahead of the Wednesday hearing, I had another great conversation with National Right to Work Foundation president Mark Mix about the leanings (probably since its inception) of the Department of Labor to prioritize union interests above all else, what we might expect from the Republican senators on the HELP Committee, and their radio and digital campaign to expose the full record on this nominee.
I asked Mix a pivotal question about the amount of appropriations the U.S. DOL receives and how these monies appear to be poured into labor union interests and not into employee concerns, franchisers, small business owners, or independent professionals.
“The world revolves around them [unions] rather than labor in all its forms,” I said. “Frankly, their version of labor is waning, while others are gaining. So, why is all this money and energy being poured in that direction?”
WATCH:
As I wrote on Saturday,
For too long the U.S. Department of Labor has been a terrible mechanic allowed to tinker with the engines of the U.S. economy; choosing winners and losers, and always siding with union interests. Many of us would like to know to what degree and how much of our taxpayer dollars help fund the destructive tactics that have been lodged at us for decades.
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Questions abound on what type of mechanic Chavez-DeRemer will be, and it is unclear whether the Senate Republicans on the HELP Committee have the stones to do any concrete vetting. The Americans for Tax Reform and freelance journalist and editor Kim Kavin have posed some concrete questions that the committee could ask about Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s past record. We will see if any of them follow through.
Q’s for the DOL nominee: You were the only Republican on @EdWorkforceCmte to vote against the Small Businesses Before Bureaucrats Act…protecting small businesses from overreach. Do you still believe that the NLRB should have greater jurisdiction to target small businesses? https://t.co/UyYNQrfIEi
— SBE Council (@SBECouncil) February 11, 2025
It appears Sen. Mullin, who is on the HELP Committee and will introduce Chavez-DeRemer, has embraced her with open arms, indicating she reflects “a winning coalition: labor AND business.”
Oklahoma is a right-to-work state. I 100% oppose the PRO Act. However, @POTUS built a historic coalition in this election with 59.6% @Teamsters backing him. He picked @LChavezDeRemer for Labor Secretary to reflect a winning coalition: labor AND business. pic.twitter.com/CilK6h1vJk
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) February 10, 2025
I asked Mix what he expected to hear from the Republicans on the HELP committee. I also floated an alternate scenario from the Democrats for him to consider.
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WATCH:
Sadly, I no longer eat popcorn, so I will have Siete Tortilla Chips on hand as I avidly watch Wednesday’s hearing. The Trump administration keeps upping the ante, so we will see if any surprises arise from this unfortunate choice for this pivotal agency.
