Trumps labor secretary pick Lori Chavez-DeRemer expected to face tough grilling during Senate hearings
President Trump’s labor secretary pick will be in for a tough grilling — from her own party — during Senate hearings next week, insiders said.From the moment her name was announced, former Rep.Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) rankled traditional free market and Reaganite Republicans, who remain deeply suspicious of her union bonafides.“Rand Paul is dead set against her, he is whipping against her right now.
He is telling everyone who will listen how much he hates her,” said one GOP Senate insider.The Kentucky senator warned last month that as many 15 Republicans could reject her nomination.His office wouldn’t say this week who those members might be.But a second insider said Kentucky GOP Sen.
Mitch McConnell could also be wavering.McConnell, 82, a longtime thorn in Trump’s side, has voted against several of his nominees already, including Robert F.
Kennedy Jr.and Pete Hegseth.Paul is among DeRemer’s inquisitors on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during her Wednesday hearing.One of the biggest red flags for critics is that Chavez-DeRemer was one of only three House Republicans who co-sponsored the radical, union-backed PRO Act.
The bill, which failed to pass the House in 2023, would have banned right-to-work laws in over two dozen states.“If she stays with her opposition to right to work then she is in a heap of trouble with Republicans,” said a second top GOP insider.Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January and pushed for Chavez-DeRemer to get the nod, a Trump world insider told The Post in November.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has pressed his members to show a united front against Trump’s nominees — with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.each being confirmed with no Democratic votes — but DeRemer is expected to be different.Barring any extreme missteps during her confirmation, Dems are not expected to...