Previously: Chavez-DeRemer served as mayor of Happy Valley, Ore., from 2011 to 2019. From 2023 to 2025, she represented Oregon’s 5th District in Congress.
Schooling: She attended public K-12 schools and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Fresno.
Education policy positions: Her 2022 campaign for Congress emphasized education priorities including a parental bill of rights and ending critical race theory instruction in public schools. While in Congress, she bucked her party’s majority on some labor issues, including by co-sponsoring legislation to expand public-sector workers’ rights to organize unions. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Chavez-DeRemer expressed strong support for registered apprenticeships, in which students get professional opportunities that dovetail with their coursework.
Staffing changes under President Donald Trump: Between November 2024 and November 2025, the number of Labor Department staff dropped by 14%, from 14,551 to 12,516, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. The Employment and Training Administration, the Labor office that will house Education Department programs, saw a staff reduction of 13%, from 1,146 to 992 employees.
Role in Education Department programs: The Employment and Training Administration within DOL will house most K-12 programs currently run by the Department of Education as well as more than 40 higher education programs. The ETA’s current leader is Henry Mack, who previously led Florida’s higher education system.
Additional notes: An internal Labor Department complaint first reported by the New York Post alleged that Chavez-DeRemer was drinking on the job and having an extramarital affair with one of her employees. Four of Chavez-DeRemer’s staffers have left the agency after coming under scrutiny in the agency inspector general’s investigation of the allegations. Current employees at the agency have described low morale and minimal visibility into Chavez-DeRemer’s activities or priorities, the Washington Post has reported.
Separately, her husband was banned from the agency’s headquarters after at least two employees alleged he sexually assaulted them; police searched her office in February as part of the investigation.
On March 31, the union that represents Department of Education staff filed a complaint alleging unsafe conditions including insects, mold, extreme temperatures, and water leaks in the Labor Department workspaces now occupied by Education Department staff whose programs were subject to interagency agreements.
In a statement to Education Week, the Labor Department didn’t confirm or deny the allegations in the complaint from Education Department staffers, saying that more than 2,000 agency employees report to the office every day “without incident.”
“It appears a small group of employees would rather protest their detail to Labor than do their actual jobs and deliver for the American people,” wrote Courtney Parella, an agency spokesperson.
2026-03-31 20:27:47
Source link