An investigation by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Labor concluded that Lori Chávez-DeRemer, who served as Secretary of Labor during Donald Trump's second term, consumed alcohol during work hours, misappropriated public funds, and directed her staff to perform personal tasks on her behalf.
The report, released by the Office of the Inspector General on Thursday and widely circulated on Friday, describes the environment that Chávez-DeRemer created in the department as "toxic, intimidating, and humiliating," and concludes that her behavior "was incompatible with the applicable standards."
"The interviewed witnesses stated that Chávez-DeRemer, Han, and Wright regularly consumed alcohol in Chávez-DeRemer's office during official working hours. The witnesses declared that when other employees attending these meetings declined alcohol, Chávez-DeRemer, Han, and Wright pressured them to participate or mocked them for abstaining," the text notes.
Among the most notable documented cases, the former official ordered an assistant to use an official vehicle to travel to her home to "tend to the laundry and dry cleaning, and organize her clothes, shoes, and bags."
During a business trip, he also asked that same assistant to "buy him wine at his hotel," according to the inspector general's report.
The report also identified a systematic pattern of private trips disguised as official agendas. The investigators found that "official travel authorizations were used on multiple occasions to justify trips that also served personal interests."
One of the most detailed episodes corresponds to a three-night stay at a luxury hotel and spa in Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2025, to attend a conservative gala held at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
The rate was $529 per night before taxes, and Chavez-DeRemer received a refund of over $2,000 for that trip, an amount that far exceeded the federal limit.
Among the gifts that were not properly declared are tickets to a rodeo given by a lobbyist, a crocodile leather wallet received in Springfield, Louisiana, and two cowboy hats presented at an America First Policy Institute event in Palm Beach.
The report also notes that the former secretary maintained a “inappropriately close” relationship with a supervisor on her security team, and that some of her associates, including her chief of staff, also engaged in inappropriate conduct.
Chávez-DeRemer, the only Hispanic in Trump's cabinet during his second term, was confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 2025, with a wide bipartisan margin of 67 to 32 votes.
Before taking office, she represented Oregon's 5th Congressional District for a single term and stood out as one of the few Republican co-sponsors of a bill aimed at facilitating workers' unionization.
Her time in the department was characterized from the outset by instability: the agency underwent significant staff reductions as part of the federal restructuring initiated by the Trump administration, and her husband, Shawn DeRemer, was banned from accessing the department's headquarters following allegations of sexual assault, although the criminal investigation into that case was closed without charges.
On April 20, 2026, Chavez-DeRemer resigned from her position amid an investigation by the inspector general, after just over a year in office, to transition to the private sector.
A spokesperson for the Department of Labor simply stated that the agency "respects the integrity of the Inspector General's investigation." Following his departure, Keith Sonderling was appointed as the interim secretary.
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