Lori Chavez-DeRemer
US Department of Labor, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The scandal arrived quietly at first—an internal complaint filed with a federal watchdog alleging that the Trump administration's Labour Secretary had been using her position to advance a personal romantic relationship, subsidising its progression with taxpayer money, and instructing staff to 'leave it alone' when colleagues grew concerned.

Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, 57, the former Oregon congresswoman who was supposed to champion working Americans, now finds herself at the centre of a Department of Labour Office of Inspector General investigation that suggests she has systematically abused her authority in pursuit of an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.

The allegations are extraordinary not merely for their content but for their scope: at least three secret visits to her DC apartment, hotel trysts during official travel, office drinking sessions fuelled by hidden alcohol stockpiles, and a pattern of fabricating official trips designed to give her personal time on the government's dime.​

What began as whispered concerns amongst departmental staff has escalated into a formal investigation that implicates not just Chavez-DeRemer but also her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff. The White House has dismissed the allegations as 'baseless,' yet the gravity of the claims suggests something far more serious than political theatre.

The investigation represents the most significant challenge to Chavez-DeRemer's brief tenure as one of Trump's most prominent cabinet members, and raises uncomfortable questions about institutional accountability at the highest levels of government.​

Labor Secretary Investigation: How Official Travel Became Cover For Personal Relationships

The complaint alleges that Chavez-DeRemer has deliberately misused her authority in ways both subtle and brazen. According to documents reviewed by The Post, she welcomed her alleged romantic partner to her DC apartment at least three times and to hotel rooms twice during official travel.

Two of those meetings in September allegedly occurred only after she instructed her security detail that protection was unnecessary—a deliberate attempt to create unsupervised time. A third visit in October was arranged so the staffer arrived only after her protective agents had left for the evening.​

Most remarkably, the pair are alleged to have travelled together to the Red Rocks Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas in late October, ostensibly to celebrate her niece's 40th birthday party, yet the trip occurred whilst the federal government was operating under a shutdown.

Hotel video footage, according to the complaint, allegedly shows the pair engaging in unprofessional behaviour on at least two Las Vegas visits in 2025, though The Post has not independently verified these recordings.​

Yet the personal relationship is only one strand of a far broader pattern of alleged misconduct. The complaint describes Chavez-DeRemer engaging in what sources characterise as 'travel fraud,' in which her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff allegedly 'make up' official trips designed to take her to locations where she can spend time with family or friends—all funded by the taxpayer.

In 2025 alone, the Department of Labour spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in public money for Chavez-DeRemer to visit thirty-seven states on more than fifty official trips. At least ten of those journeys were to Nevada or locations where she maintains personal connections—her home state of Oregon, Arizona where she and her anaesthesiologist husband own a property, and Michigan where her daughter lives.​

The complaint documents a pattern of behaviour in which Chavez-DeRemer speaks for thirty minutes to an hour during official events, then conducts 'personal stuff' and 'goes out drinking at night' whilst the government bears the costs.

Sources indicate she has joked to aides about whether she could 'get her own airplane' for these trips—a comment that, whilst potentially flippant, underscores the underlying attitude toward public resources.​

Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer Accused Of Office Drinking And Directing Subordinates To Ignore Misconduct

Beyond the personal relationship and travel fraud allegations lies a picture of increasingly chaotic conduct within her office. The complaint describes Chavez-DeRemer keeping 'a stash' of champagne, bourbon and Kahlúa in her office and drinking during working hours.

When news of the alleged misconduct began circulating amongst departmental staff, she allegedly instructed her chief of staff, Jihun Han, to 'leave it alone', effectively ordering subordinates to ignore and suppress information about her conduct.​

Sources also describe her as a 'boss from hell' who forces aides to run personal errands or perform menial tasks whilst on the clock—a pattern of behaviour that suggests deeper dysfunction within her office and raises questions about the workplace culture she has fostered.​

The Department of Labour's official response has been strikingly defensive. Spokeswoman Courtney Parella issued a statement insisting that 'These unsubstantiated allegations are categorically false' and arguing that 'Secretary Chavez-DeRemer has complied with all ethics rules and Department policies.' She added that the Secretary is 'considering all possible avenues, including legal action, to fight these baseless accusations from anonymous sources'.​

Yet the White House's dismissal proved even more combative. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers characterised the allegations as 'baseless' and described Chavez-DeRemer as 'an incredible asset to President Trump's team.'

Rogers then pivoted to attack the reporting itself, claiming that The Post 'was unable to provide any evidence to corroborate these baseless claims' and that the newspaper was incapable of demonstrating that 'this report was ever even filed.' She concluded that 'Reporting on these allegations without any evidence to back them is basic journalistic malpractice.'​

The Office of Inspector General has declined to confirm or deny the investigation's existence beyond standard protocol, issuing a statement that it 'remains committed to rooting out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption through objective, independent oversight.'

The office is overseen by former New York Republican congressman Anthony D'Esposito, adding another layer of political complexity to an already sensitive inquiry.​

The Credibility Question: Can A Labor Secretary Whose Position Depends On Trust Survive Such Allegations?

Chavez-DeRemer's husband, Dr Shawn DeRemer, issued a statement denying the allegations entirely. 'There's not an ounce of truth to this, and anyone who knows my wife would know that,' he insisted. Yet his defence, whilst perhaps sincere, cannot erase the structural problem now facing the Labour Secretary.

Whether the allegations prove true or false, the investigation itself creates an institutional crisis. How can the nation's chief labour official, supposedly charged with protecting workers and enforcing workplace standards, command credibility when facing allegations of creating a toxic workplace culture and abusing her own subordinates?​

The investigation arrives at a moment when Chavez-DeRemer's tenure has already proved controversial. She distanced herself from the Protecting the Right to Organise Act, legislation she once championed, and embraced Trump's decidedly anti-union agenda.

Union leaders who initially supported her nomination based on her congressional record felt betrayed. This fresh scandal only deepens the damage, making her position as Labour Secretary increasingly untenable.​

The Office of Inspector General investigation will take time to unfold. Evidence will be gathered, interviews conducted, documents reviewed. Yet regardless of whether the investigation concludes that the allegations are substantiated, the damage to institutional trust may already be complete.

A Labour Secretary accused of abusing her authority over subordinates, manufacturing official travel to subsidise personal relationships, and instructing staff to ignore misconduct has become a symbol of the very institutional dysfunction and corruption she was theoretically appointed to address.

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