Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will vote against the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee, former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), to lead the Department of Labor, his spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
In a post Monday on the social media platform X, Paul took issue with Chavez-DeRemer’s labor-friendly views and highlighted NBC News reporting indicating he would oppose her nomination.
“I’m the national spokesman and lead author of the right-to-work bill,” Paul wrote, linking to the NBC News report. “Her support for the PRO Act, which would not only oppose national right to work but would pre-empt state law on right to work — I think it’s not a good thing.”
Paul added, in a statement to NBC News: “And it’d be sort of hard for me, since it’s a big issue for me, to support her. So I won’t support her.”
Paul also predicted Chavez-DeRemer would garner some Democratic support because of her “pro-labor” views.
“I think she’ll lose 15 Republicans, and she’ll get 25 Democrats. I mean, she’s very pro labor. She might get all the Democrats. Who knows,” Paul told a Fox News Radio reporter.
Paul’s spokesperson confirmed the reports to The Hill.
Chavez-DeRemer, who lost her own reelection bid in November in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, is one of only three Republicans in Congress who backed the PRO Act, the wide-ranging labor law that would rein in the so-called gig economy and boost workers’ organizing rights.
She was also one of just eight Republicans to co-sponsor a similar bill to strengthen public-sector unions, which conservatives have railed against in various forms, including the Heritage Foundation’s programmatic Project 2025.
Her nomination came as a welcome choice to organized labor, but it rattled some business groups who worried the unusually labor-friendly pick could signal a new and receptive stance toward unions among Republicans.
The pick followed a recent increase in popularity among unions and the precedent-breaking appearance of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien at the Republican National Convention in July.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called Chavez-De Remer’s nomination “concerning.”
He said he wants to ask the nominee about the PRO Act, telling NBC News, “Why would she support that?”
