Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is facing renewed scrutiny after the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General released a September 3, 2026 report substantiating multiple allegations of misconduct during her tenure in President Donald Trump’s administration. The watchdog found that Chavez-DeRemer violated department policies involving workplace harassment, an inappropriately close relationship with a member of her security detail, personal travel funded through official trips, alcohol consumption on federal property, use of government employees for personal errands and improperly documented gifts. The inspector general did not find sufficient evidence to establish that Chavez-DeRemer had a romantic or sexual relationship with the security official, despite earlier allegations of an affair. Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April before investigators could interview her.
Inspector General Substantiates Multiple Violations
The Labor Department watchdog found misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer across six separate areas. The OIG concluded by a preponderance of the evidence that she violated departmental standards governing workplace harassment, impartiality, official travel, alcohol on federal property, use of subordinates for personal work and reporting of gifts. [DOL OIG]
The investigation was extensive. Investigators interviewed 53 current and former Labor Department employees plus one employee from another federal agency and reviewed more than 500 documents, images and videos, including emails, travel records, surveillance footage and material recovered from government devices. [DOL OIG]
The watchdog applied a “preponderance of the evidence” standard. That means investigators determined the substantiated conduct was more likely than not to have occurred; the report is an administrative misconduct investigation rather than a criminal conviction. [DOL OIG]
“Toxic, Intimidating And Humiliating” Workplace
The inspector general found that Chavez-DeRemer and several senior aides failed to follow Labor Department policies prohibiting harassing and hostile workplace conduct. Witnesses described recurring demeaning or intimidating treatment, fears of retaliation and employees being reluctant to challenge senior officials. [DOL OIG]
The OIG did not determine that the conduct necessarily met the legal threshold for unlawful discrimination or a hostile work environment under federal civil-rights law. Its finding was narrower: department leaders violated internal policies designed to prevent harassment before it becomes sufficiently severe or pervasive to violate federal law. [DOL OIG]
Associated Press described the workplace identified by the investigation as “toxic, intimidating and humiliating.” The report also found that senior personnel tolerated behavior including public belittling of staff and employment decisions influenced by appearance. [AP]
Alleged Affair With Security Official
One of the most explosive allegations against Chavez-DeRemer was that she was having an affair with a member of her protective detail. That allegation surfaced publicly while she was still labor secretary and became part of the inspector general’s investigation. [Washington Post]
The OIG found that Chavez-DeRemer and the assistant special agent in charge maintained an “inappropriately close and unprofessional relationship.” Investigators cited frequent private communications, unusually informal exchanges, physical familiarity and electronic hotel and residential access records. [DOL OIG]
The watchdog did not find enough direct evidence to conclude that the relationship was romantic or sexual. That is an important distinction from earlier reports describing the allegation as an affair. [DOL OIG] [AP]
Security Official Repeatedly Left Himself Alone With Chavez-DeRemer
The OIG found that the security official repeatedly reduced the number of agents around Chavez-DeRemer and placed himself in situations where he alone provided her protection. Investigators said this violated protective-detail procedures and created an appearance of preferential treatment. [DOL OIG]
During a Las Vegas trip, the official allegedly dismissed another agent and remained alone with Chavez-DeRemer for approximately three hours without providing location or status updates. On the same trip, he was also accused of leaving his post while two unvetted men interacted with Chavez-DeRemer and a senior aide. [DOL OIG]
Other incidents included playing golf alone with Chavez-DeRemer while armed and on protective duty and physically intervening to separate other agents from her. Investigators concluded that these actions needlessly reduced her protective coverage. [DOL OIG]
Alcohol In The Labor Secretary’s Office
The OIG substantiated allegations that Chavez-DeRemer and senior aides regularly consumed and stored alcohol on federal property without proper authorization. Investigators personally observed bottles of alcohol in offices controlled by Chavez-DeRemer and her aides and reviewed witness and video evidence. [DOL OIG]
Witnesses said Chavez-DeRemer, chief of staff Jihun Han and deputy chief of staff Rebecca Wright regularly drank in the secretary’s study during official duty hours. Employees who declined alcohol were allegedly pressured to drink or mocked for abstaining. [DOL OIG]
Federal rules did allow Chavez-DeRemer, as agency head, to authorize alcohol for appropriate official uses, but the required written approvals were never filed. Investigators searched Labor Department security records and found no authorization covering the alcohol consumption they documented. [DOL OIG]
“Do They Sell By The Bottle?”
Text messages obtained during the investigation showed Chavez-DeRemer asking an aide to bring wine to her hotel room during official travel. According to reporting based on the messages, Chavez-DeRemer asked, “Do they sell by the bottle?” after requesting rosé. [Mediaite]
When told the hotel was out of rosé, she allegedly requested “josh sauvi B,” apparently referring to Josh Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. The messages appear to have been sent during an official trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. [Mediaite]
The final OIG report substantiated the broader allegation that Chavez-DeRemer used government employees to purchase alcohol for her during official travel. [DOL OIG]
Employees Used To Organize Her Closet
Investigators found that Chavez-DeRemer repeatedly ordered government employees to perform personal errands during working hours. One of the most striking examples involved her bedroom closet. [DOL OIG]
Chavez-DeRemer directed her personal aide and executive assistant to travel in a government vehicle to her residence and organize her clothing. They hung laundry and dry cleaning and arranged her clothing, shoes and purses. [DOL OIG]
The employees then sent Chavez-DeRemer a video documenting the completed work. The inspector general included still images from that video in its report. [DOL OIG]
Staff Retrieved Packages During Government Shutdown
Chavez-DeRemer also ordered a federal employee to retrieve approximately eight personal packages from her residential mailroom. The incident occurred on October 29, 2025, during a 43-day government shutdown. [DOL OIG]
The watchdog concluded that using a subordinate’s official work time for such errands violated federal ethics standards. [DOL OIG]
Staff Bought Gifts, Decorations And Alcohol
Three Labor Department employees were directed to make personal purchases for Chavez-DeRemer. The items included picture frames, holiday ornaments, gifts and alcohol. [DOL OIG]
Chavez-DeRemer generally supplied personal money for the purchases, but at least one employee told investigators that reimbursement did not always occur. [DOL OIG]
Hispanic Employee Used For Personal Translation And Moving Help
The OIG found that Chavez-DeRemer directed a Hispanic federal employee to translate for Spanish-speaking workers at her private residence. The employee was also instructed to oversee movers and communicate Chavez-DeRemer’s directions to the moving crew. [DOL OIG]
On another occasion, Chavez-DeRemer told the same employee to arrange cleaning services at her residence before her husband arrived. [DOL OIG]
Personal Travel Paid Through Official Trips
The watchdog substantiated allegations that Chavez-DeRemer improperly combined personal and official travel. Investigators found a pattern in which official events were added to itineraries involving places Chavez-DeRemer already intended to visit for personal reasons. [DOL OIG]
Eleven witnesses told investigators that official engagements were added to destinations involving family visits or Chavez-DeRemer’s personal residences so that Labor Department funds could pay associated travel costs. Witnesses identified at least 13 such trips and five separate trips to Las Vegas. [DOL OIG]
Career employees had warned Chavez-DeRemer and her aides that combining personal and official travel could create compliance problems. The report says those career employees were subsequently removed from travel-planning responsibilities, which were given to a political appointee. [DOL OIG]
Golf Trip And Excessive Hotel Reimbursement
One example involved an August 2025 trip to Spokane, Washington. Chavez-DeRemer scheduled a virtual meeting from a hotel while official travel records otherwise listed a hotel, airport and golf course. [DOL OIG]
The OIG also found unauthorized lodging expenses during a Palm Beach, Florida trip. Some hotel costs approached or exceeded 300 percent of the normal federal lodging rate without the required advance approval or mission-critical justification. [DOL OIG]
Strip Club Visit
The investigation documented a government trip during which Chavez-DeRemer visited a strip club in Oregon. The episode had previously become public during the scandal that preceded her resignation. [AP]
According to the OIG report, Chavez-DeRemer instructed her limousine driver to place money on or near a partially nude dancer. The incident became one of the most sensational examples of conduct uncovered during the investigation. [Mediaite] [AP]
Unreported Gifts
The OIG also found that gifts received by or for Chavez-DeRemer were not properly recorded through Labor Department ethics channels. At least five gifts did not appear in the department’s required tracking system. [DOL OIG]
The gifts included a scarf, work boots, an alligator-hide wallet, baby gifts and cowboy hats. Some exceeded the $20 regulatory threshold that generally applies to gifts from a single source absent an exception. [DOL OIG]
Investigators separately identified rodeo tickets worth approximately $100 each and an alligator-hide wallet worth about $200. Chavez-DeRemer had completed Labor Department ethics training before receiving several of the gifts. [DOL OIG]
Husband Banned From Labor Department
The broader scandal also involved Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, although the allegations against him were separate from the misconduct findings against his wife. Three female political appointees accused him of inappropriate touching. [Washington Post]
A local police investigation did not find evidence sufficient to charge him with a crime. He nevertheless remained banned from Labor Department headquarters after the department’s inspector general recommended restricting his access while its internal inquiry continued. [Washington Post]
Shawn DeRemer was not a Labor Department employee. His alleged interactions with agency staff became part of the larger controversy surrounding Chavez-DeRemer’s management of the department.
Chavez-DeRemer’s Father Texted Young Female Staffer
Investigators also reviewed messages involving Chavez-DeRemer’s father, Richard Chavez. In one April 2025 exchange reported by the New York Times and reproduced by Mediaite, Chavez texted a young female staffer and told her to keep their conversation private. [Mediaite]
The messages contributed to broader concerns that Labor Department employees were expected to attend to Chavez-DeRemer’s family as well as the secretary herself. [Washington Post]
Top Aides Removed
Several senior officials were removed from the Labor Department as the investigation developed. Chief of staff Jihun Han, deputy chief of staff Rebecca Wright and another senior political appointee were among those who left or were terminated. [DOL OIG]
The security official at the center of the inappropriate-relationship allegation also left federal service. The OIG found policy violations involving all five officials who were subjects of its investigation. [DOL OIG]
Chavez-DeRemer Resigns
Chavez-DeRemer resigned as labor secretary on April 20, 2026, as the misconduct investigation intensified. The White House announced that she was leaving the administration for the private sector. [Reuters]
Her resignation came one day before she had been scheduled to sit for an OIG interview. Her attorney subsequently declined to make her available to investigators, so the inspector general completed the investigation without interviewing her. [DOL OIG]
Chavez-DeRemer denied that she had committed legal wrongdoing. She accused “deep state actors” and the media of pushing allegations against her and her family, while her attorney said her departure was intended to allow the department to continue its work without distraction. [Washington Post]
White House Initially Defends Chavez-DeRemer
The Trump administration initially defended Chavez-DeRemer as allegations emerged. Early White House and Labor Department statements characterized the reports as baseless and said she remained focused on carrying out the president’s agenda. [Washington Post]
The administration’s public defense became less forceful as additional allegations and evidence emerged. Chavez-DeRemer ultimately became the third Trump Cabinet official to leave office during a turbulent period in spring 2026. [Reuters]
Inspector General Recommends Structural Reforms
The OIG did more than document misconduct. It recommended restructuring Labor Department safeguards to reduce the likelihood of similar problems under future secretaries. [DOL OIG]
One recommendation calls for greater independence for the secretary’s protective detail. The watchdog proposed removing the Division of Protective Operations from direct political influence by the Office of the Secretary. [DOL OIG]
The report also recommends recurring independent audits of senior officials’ travel. Those reviews would compare official schedules against travel vouchers and require greater scrutiny of lodging reimbursements and the stated purposes of trips. [DOL OIG]
Lori Chavez-DeRemer Background
Chavez-DeRemer is a former Republican member of Congress from Oregon. Trump nominated her as labor secretary after the 2024 election, presenting her as a Republican who could build stronger relationships with organized labor.
The Senate confirmed her in March 2025 with bipartisan support. Her nomination received backing from labor organizations including the Teamsters. [Reuters]
She served approximately 13 months as secretary before resigning. Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling became acting labor secretary and was later nominated by Trump to permanently replace her. [Reuters]
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One of the first political bloggers in the world, Oliver Willis has operated OliverWillis.com since 2000. Contributor at Media Matters for America and The American Independent. Follow on Twitter at @owillis. Full bio.