U.S. News

Labor Secretary Resigns Amid Misconduct Probe Into Travel Fraud

By Mike Harper · April 22, 2026

Lori Chavez-DeRemer is gone. The Labor Secretary’s departure, confirmed Monday by White House communications director Steven Cheung, makes her the third Cabinet member to leave during President Trump’s second term — following Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The resignation comes as the Labor Department’s inspector general was weeks away from completing a months-long investigation into a series of misconduct allegations that had already claimed three of her top staffers and drawn in her husband.

The IG probe centered on multiple complaints, including allegations that Chavez-DeRemer was conducting a romantic relationship with a member of her security detail and that staff were setting up official events as cover for personal travel. Her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were placed on administrative leave in January and formally resigned in early March. A third senior staffer, Melissa Robey, said publicly she had been fired after giving a four-hour interview to the inspector general’s office.

The investigation involving Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, added another layer to the scandal. The New York Times reported that he had been banned from Labor Department headquarters in Washington after at least two female staff members reported he had touched them inappropriately. Washington D.C. police and federal prosecutors closed that investigation without charges.

One final component of the IG investigation — a scheduled interview with Chavez-DeRemer herself — had been arranged for this week. The resignation came first.

Her attorney framed the departure as a personal choice rather than an admission.

“Secretary Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation is not the result of legal wrongdoings,” attorney Nick Oberheiden told NBC News. “It is a personal decision.”

Chavez-DeRemer struck a different tone on social media, framing her departure as a political attack.

“The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump’s mission,” she wrote on X Monday night.

The White House praised her tenure. Cheung said she “has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers” and confirmed she would be moving to a position in the private sector. Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was named acting secretary.

The pattern of her departure echoes those of Noem and Bondi. All three were women. All three left under circumstances the White House publicly characterized as voluntary while private reporting described something more complicated. The timeline — three Cabinet departures in roughly seven weeks — reflects an administration still managing significant internal turbulence.

For American workers, the practical impact of Chavez-DeRemer’s exit is uncertain. Her tenure coincided with a period of significant workforce reduction at the Labor Department itself, with its headcount falling nearly 25% from September 2024 levels, including reductions at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that drew concern from economists about the reliability of federal employment data.

Sonderling has been running much of the department’s day-to-day operations for months. The transition in leadership is unlikely to produce immediate policy changes — but it extends a period of instability at an agency that directly oversees wages, workplace safety, and union rules for millions of Americans.