Senate Committee Recommends Lori Chavez-deremer's Confirmation As Trump's Labor Secretary

A Senate committee voted Thursday to advance the nomination of President Donald Trump's choice to head the Department of Labor , one of the agencies named in lawsuits over moves by Elon Musk's cost-cutting team to access federal data systems.

Members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor Pensions voted 13-9 to recommend Lori Chavez-DeRemer 's confirmation by the full Senate.

Although the former Republican congresswoman from Oregon is widely viewed as comparatively pro-labor , some Democratic senators have said they would oppose all of Trump's remaining Cabinet picks as a way to protest his administration's far-reaching efforts to reshape the U.S. government.

During her Feb. 19 confirmation hearing, Republican senators grilled Chavez-DeRemer about her past support in Congress for pro-union legislation. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the committee, said business owners were concerned about Chavez-DeRemer's co-sponsorship of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act .

The PRO Act, which did not come up for a vote during her one term, would have made it easier for workers to unionize and penalized employers who interfered with that activity. When Cassidy asked if Chavez-DeRemer still supported the legislation, she declined to give a yes or no answer.