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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted 67 to 32 to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer as President Donald Trump’s Labor secretary.
Trump picked Chavez-DeRemer for the job because her father was a Teamsters member, a sign that Trump is angling to break up the Democrats’ long-standing alliance with organized labor.
Sens. Tedd Budd (N.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.), and former GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) were the only Republicans who spoke out against Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. Seventeen Democrats backed her and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) did not vote.
By a vote of 14 to 9, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee agreed to nominate Chavez-DeRemer on February 27.
After Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted no, Chavez-DeRemer was the first well-known Trump nominee who needed support from Democrats to get through committee consideration.
The Democrats Maggie Hassan (N.H.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), and Tim Kaine (Va.) voted “yes,” along with the other Republicans on the committee.
Paul’s opposition to the Pro Act is based on Chavez-DeRemer’s past support for it. The Pro Act would weaken states’ anti-union laws and give more power to organized workers.
Although most Republicans and the business lobby are against the bill, she was one of only three Republicans in the House who backed it during her one term.
Trump ran as a pro-worker and somewhat pro-labor candidate, but during his first term, he put people in charge of the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor who had a history of being against unions.
Thereafter, those agencies did things that were considered bad for workers, like limiting protections for overtime.
Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters, pushed for Chavez-DeRemer to be nominated.
“The Biden administration used its authority as a weapon against workers, threatening their ability to earn a living and provide for their families,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La), chairman of the HELP panel, said Monday.
“With President Trump back in office, we have an opportunity to enact a pro-America agenda at the Department of Labor that puts workers first,” he added.
Last week, the Senate confirmed Kelly Loeffler in a bipartisan vote to lead the Small Business Administration, bringing the total number of Trump’s cabinet officials to 18.
The upper chamber voted 52-46 to approve Loeffler’s nomination, with Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen joining 51 Republicans in support.
Forty-six Democrats opposed the nomination of the former U.S. senator from Georgia, while Republican Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Dan Sullivan of Alaska did not vote.
“Loeffler will now lead the agency with a roughly $1 billion budget tasked with providing loans, grants, and financial coaching to small-business owners nationwide,” the New York Post reported.
With an estimated net worth of around $1 billion, Loeffler had served as an executive at the financial services firm Intercontinental Exchange before being appointed to the U.S. Senate to complete the term of the late Sen. Johnny Isakson.
The former Georgia senator lost a runoff election to current Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in January 2021, despite fully embracing Trump and running campaign ads in Georgia that portrayed her as “more conservative than Attila the Hun.”
Her husband, Jeff Sprecher, serves as CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Small Business Committee last month, Loeffler promised to assist Trump, 78, in ushering in a “golden era of prosperity and growth.” She outlined her goals of “ending inflation, cutting taxes, unleashing American energy dominance, slashing regulation, and reining in fraud, waste, and abuse across government.”
She also pledged to donate her more than $200,000 annual salary as SBA administrator to charity, just as she had with her $174,000 Senate salary between 2019 and 2021, The Post noted further.
“Sen. Loeffler is immensely qualified for this role,” said Small Business Committee Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in a floor speech last Thursday.
“As a successful businesswoman, it is abundantly clear that Senator Loeffler truly understands what it takes to be an entrepreneur and will be an effective voice for small businesses across America.”