Overview
- White House communications chief Steven Cheung announced Monday that Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned to take a private-sector job, and Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling will lead the department in an acting role.
- The resignation lands as the department’s watchdog pursues an administrative probe into allegations of travel misuse, drinking during work hours, and an inappropriate relationship with a security staffer.
- Investigators have reviewed personal text messages involving the secretary, aides, her husband, and her father, while at least three staff complaints describe a hostile work environment.
- Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, was barred from agency headquarters after reports of unwanted touching of staff, and police and prosecutors closed those cases without filing charges.
- The exit is the third recent cabinet departure under President Trump, and Senate leaders have pressed for records tied to the Labor inquiry, underscoring broader concerns about turnover and oversight.