Watchdog report alleges misconduct by Trump’s former labour secretary

Lori Chavez-DeRemer reportedly used staff for personal tasks, drank at work and violated ethics regulations.

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations on May 15, 2025 [File: Yuri Gripas/AP Photo]

A federal watchdog in the United States has published a report detailing allegations of misconduct involving former US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer , who resigned in April.

On Thursday night, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General released 44 pages detailing incidents where Chavez-DeRemer reportedly blurred the line between her public office and personal life.

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The report drew from 500 documents and interviews with 53 current and former Labor Department employees, as well as one employee from another federal agency.

It said 38 of the interviewees described the secretary’s office as a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” workplace.

It also accuses Chavez-DeRemer of using government employees for private errands, drinking alcohol in her office during working hours and developing an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of her security detail.

The rumours of misconduct ultimately forced Chavez-DeRemer to leave her post on April 20.

She became the third cabinet secretary to leave the second administration of President Donald Trump, after the departures of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year.

A ‘toxic’ environment

Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican Congress member from Oregon, was sworn in on March 11, 2025. Her position lasted just over a year.

The final months of her tenure saw the resignations of several high-level staff members. One, Melissa Robey, claimed in media reports that she was fired under pressure from the White House after sitting down with the inspector general’s office.

Thursday’s report alleged that Chavez-DeRemer oversaw a hostile workplace, with senior staff having “routinely engaged in threatening, demeaning, and abusive verbal and written communication” towards their colleagues.

It cited incidents of Labor Department employees being berated in front of colleagues and threatened with termination.

Some of the episodes involved Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, Rebecca Wright. She allegedly relocated one employee’s desk to avoid having a “fat person” seen in the front office, and she reportedly advised another employee not to cut her hair too short to avoid looking like a “lesbian”.

The report alleges that Chavez-DeRemer was aware of such incidents but failed to take action to prevent them from happening.

Allegations of inappropriate requests

Investigators also found that Chavez-DeRemer herself directed government employees to perform personal tasks during official time.

A personal aide and executive assistant were reportedly sent to her residence to organise her closet, hang laundry and arrange her clothing and purses.

Investigators said another employee, who was Hispanic, was directed to oversee workers at Chavez-DeRemer’s home, including a moving crew.

Employees were also tasked with buying personal items, including gifts, picture frames, holiday decorations and alcohol, according to the report.

Chavez-DeRemer, Wright and her deputy chief of staff also regularly drank alcohol in the secretary’s study during duty hours, according to witness reports. Some employees said they felt pressured or ridiculed when they declined to participate.

Department of Labor policy requires advance written authorisation for alcohol on federal property. Investigators found no record that the required approval had been obtained.

Relationship with security detail

The watchdog also zeroed in on aspects of Chavez-DeRemer’s personal behaviour that violated government ethics standards.

Regulations prohibit government employees from using their office “to coerce or induce another person, including a subordinate, to provide” them with “any financial or other benefit”.

It also bars officials from requesting subordinates to use government time for activities that fall outside their job’s official duties.

But the report determined that Chavez-DeRemer developed an “inappropriately close and unprofessional” relationship with a senior agent on her protective detail.

Witnesses reported seeing Chavez-DeRemer massaging the agent’s shoulder, golfing and gambling with him, and leaving an event walking arm-in-arm.

The report, however, did not find “sufficient” evidence to conclude the relationship was sexual.

Still, investigators documented conduct where the relationship between Chavez-DeRemer and the agent created conflicts of interest or inappropriate work situations.

The report describes an April 2025 incident in which Chavez-DeRemer was taking a personal trip to Oregon and asked her security detail to make an off-the-record stop at a club featuring partially nude dancers.

The senior agent she was involved with was also on the trip. A limousine driver objected to her requests to drop money onto a performer, but the senior agent reportedly instructed him to comply.

The agent occasionally reduced the number of officers covering Chavez-DeRemer or assumed sole responsibility for her protection.

Investigators obtained electronic hotel door lock records suggesting the two spent time overnight in each other’s rooms and reviewed video footage that documented his visits to her home.

Unreported gifts and excess spending

The report also found travel policy violations involving excessive spending.

In November 2025, for instance, Chavez-DeRemer and two other officials reportedly stayed at hotels in Palm Beach, Florida, to attend an America First Policy Institute gala.

The cost for their lodging approached or exceeded three times the government reimbursement rate, despite there being no documentation showing the required approval for the increased costs.

Investigators further found that Chavez-DeRemer failed to report several gifts to the government, including rodeo tickets, an alligator-hide wallet and cowboy hats given to her and her husband.

Federal government officials are required to report gifts they receive as part of their official duties, to avoid conflicts of interest.

In its conclusion, the watchdog report recommends structural changes to the Labor Department, including removing the protective units from the secretary’s oversight.

Such agents, it suggested, could instead work under the inspector general’s office.

The report also called for independent travel audits, stronger whistleblower protections and annual training for senior leaders.

Since resigning her cabinet post, Chavez-DeRemer has announced she has taken up a senior adviser position at Think Big, a public affairs firm.

According to the company’s website, the former secretary heads a practice dedicated to labour and national infrastructure.

据报道，洛里·查韦斯-德雷默利用员工处理私人事务，在工作时间饮酒，并违反了道德规范。

2025年5月15日，劳工部长洛里·查韦斯-德雷默在众议院拨款委员会作证。[图片：尤里·格里帕斯/美联社照片]

美国一家联邦监督机构发布了一份报告，详细列举了有关前美国劳工部长洛里·查韦斯-德雷默（Lori Chavez-DeRemer）的不当行为指控，她于今年 4 月辞职。

周四晚间，劳工部监察长办公室公布了 44 页报告，详细记录了查韦斯-德雷默涉嫌模糊公职与私生活界限的事件。

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该报告参考了 500 份文件，并采访了 53 名现任和前任劳工部雇员，以及一名来自其他联邦机构的雇员。

报告称，38 名受访者将秘书办公室描述为“有毒的、令人恐惧的和令人羞辱的”工作场所。

起诉书还指控查韦斯-德雷默利用政府雇员为她跑腿办事，在工作时间在办公室喝酒，并与她的一名安保人员发展“不正当关系”。

不当行为的传闻最终迫使查韦斯-德雷默于 4 月 20 日离职。

继国土安全部长克里斯蒂·诺姆和司法部长帕姆·邦迪今年早些时候离职后，她成为唐纳德·特朗普总统第二届政府中第三位离职的内阁部长。

一个“有毒的”环境

查韦斯-德雷默曾是俄勒冈州的共和党国会议员，于 2025 年 3 月 11 日宣誓就职。她的任期仅持续了一年多。

在她任期的最后几个月里，几位高级幕僚相继辞职。其中一位名叫梅丽莎·罗比的幕僚在媒体报道中声称，她在与监察长办公室会面后，迫于白宫的压力而被解雇。

周四的报告称，查韦斯-德雷默领导下的工作环境充满敌意，高级职员“经常对同事进行威胁、贬低和辱骂性的口头和书面交流”。

报告列举了劳工部员工在同事面前遭到辱骂和被威胁解雇的事件。

其中一些事件与查韦斯-德雷默的幕僚长丽贝卡·赖特有关。据称，她为了避免在办公室前台看到“胖子”，挪动了一名员工的办公桌；据报道，她还建议另一名员工不要把头发剪得太短，以免看起来像“女同性恋”。

报告称，查韦斯-德雷默明知此类事件的存在，却未能采取行动阻止其发生。

不当请求的指控

调查人员还发现，查韦斯-德雷默本人曾指示政府雇员在上班时间从事私人事务。

据报道，她的私人助理和行政助理被派往她的住所，整理她的衣橱、晾晒衣物并整理她的衣物和钱包。

调查人员表示，另一名西班牙裔员工被指示监督查韦斯-德雷默家中的工人，其中包括搬家工人。

报告还指出，员工还被要求购买个人物品，包括礼物、相框、节日装饰品和酒类。

据目击者称，查韦斯-德雷默、赖特及其副幕僚长也经常在工作时间于部长办公室饮酒。一些员工表示，当他们拒绝参与时，感到受到了压力或嘲笑。

美国劳工部规定，在联邦政府管辖的土地上饮用酒精饮料必须事先获得书面授权。调查人员没有发现任何已获得所需批准的记录。

与安保人员的关系

监督机构还重点关注了查韦斯-德雷默违反政府道德标准的个人行为。

法规禁止政府雇员利用职权“胁迫或诱​​使他人，包括下属，向其提供”任何“经济或其他利益”。

它还禁止官员要求下属利用公务时间从事与其工作职责无关的活动。

但报告认定，查韦斯-德雷默与她的一名高级保镖建立了“不恰当的亲密且不专业”的关系。

目击者称看到查韦斯-德雷默为该特工按摩肩膀，与他一起打高尔夫球和赌博，并挽着胳膊离开活动现场。

然而，该报告并未发现“充分的”证据来得出两人之间存在性关系的结论。

不过，调查人员记录了一些行为，其中查韦斯-德雷默与该特工之间的关系造成了利益冲突或不当的工作情况。

该报告描述了 2025 年 4 月发生的一起事件，当时查韦斯-德雷默正在俄勒冈州进行私人旅行，并要求她的安保人员秘密前往一家有半裸舞者的俱乐部。

与她有染的高级经纪人也一同前往。一位豪华轿车司机反对她要求向一位表演者撒钱，但据报道，这位高级经纪人指示他照办。

该特工有时会减少负责保护查韦斯-德雷默的警员人数，或者独自承担起保护她的全部责任。

调查人员获得了酒店电子门锁记录，显示两人曾在彼此的房间里过夜，并查看了记录他到她家拜访的视频录像。

未申报的礼品和超支支出

该报告还发现存在违反差旅政策、过度支出的情况。

例如，据报道，2025 年 11 月，查韦斯-德雷默和其他两名官员入住佛罗里达州棕榈滩的酒店，参加美国优先政策研究所的盛大晚会。

尽管没有任何文件证明增加的费用已获得必要的批准，但他们的住宿费用却接近或超过了政府报销标准的3倍。

调查人员还发现，查韦斯-德雷默没有向政府申报几份礼物，包括牛仔竞技表演门票、鳄鱼皮钱包和送给她和她丈夫的牛仔帽。

联邦政府官员必须申报在履行公务过程中收到的礼物，以避免利益冲突。

监督机构的报告在结论中建议对劳工部进行结构性改革，包括将保护部门从部长的监督下移除。

报告建议，这些特工可以转而在监察长办公室工作。

该报告还呼吁进行独立的差旅审计，加强对举报人的保护，并为高级领导提供年度培训。

自辞去内阁职务以来，查韦斯-德雷默宣布她已在公共事务公司 Think Big 担任高级顾问一职。

据该公司网站介绍，这位前秘书领导着一个专门从事劳工和国家基础设施业务的业务部门。