Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will step down from her position, according to Assistant to the President & White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung.
“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” Cheung wrote on X. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”
Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling will take over as acting secretary.
Chavez-DeRemer is leaving during a misconduct probe involving alleged travel fraud.
Four employees have already left. From The New York Post on March 4:
Melissa Robey, who served as director of advance in the secretary’s office, was fired on Tuesday at the prompting of the White House, sources said.On March 4, Robey was put on administrative leave following allegations that she misused taxpayer dollars for official travel — one day after Chavez-DeRemer’s two top aides resigned from their positions while facing similar allegations.Investigators had gathered evidence of a “toxic” workplace created by chief of staff Jihun Han and his deputy Rebecca Wright, including verbal abuse of staffers and waste of departmental resources on personal trips, sources noted.The senior aides were also accused of committing “travel fraud” by helping “make up” official trips to destinations where Chavez-DeRemer, 57, could spend personal time on the taxpayers’ dime.People familiar with the probe added that Robey, who acknowledged that she had been interviewed by investigators on Monday, also had excessive travel-related expenditures.
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