Donald Trump’s labour secretary resigns in latest US cabinet departure

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Donald Trump’s labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has resigned, the White House confirmed on Monday, the latest in a series of departures from the US president’s cabinet.

A former Republican Congress member from Oregon, Chavez-DeRemer is the third member of Trump’s cabinet to leave their post in less than two months. The president fired homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in March, and earlier this month ousted attorney-general Pam Bondi.

White House communications director Steven Cheung announced the personnel change in a social media post, saying Chavez-DeRemer would be “leaving the administration to take a position in the private sector”.

“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,” Cheung said on X, adding that Keith Sonderling, currently the deputy secretary of labour, will take over running the department as acting secretary.

Trump did not immediately comment on Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation.

The shake-up at the top levels of the administration comes just over six months before November’s critical midterm elections, when Republicans will seek to maintain control of both chambers of Congress. The president is confronting record-low approval ratings as the electorate sours on his handling of the economy and the war in Iran.

Chavez-DeRemer had come under growing pressure to resign after allegations of misconduct against her and some of her closest allies, including members of her immediate family.

The New York Post first reported in early January that a complaint had been filed with the labour department’s inspector general with a series of allegations, including that she had been “abusing her position” by pursuing an “inappropriate” relationship with a subordinate.

The New York Times later reported that her husband, Shawn DeRemer, had been banned from the labour department following an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a female member of staff.

Chavez-DeRemer and DeRemer have denied all allegations of wrongdoing.