US Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will leave the Trump administration to take a position in the private sector, the White House said on Monday.
Complaints had mounted for months against the head of the department that oversees work laws and administers unemployment benefits.
Chavez-DeRemer, 58, reportedly was under internal investigation for potential wrongdoing.
In a post on X, Chavez-DeRemer said, “I am proud that we made significant progress in advancing President Trump’s mission to bridge the gap between business and labor and always put the American worker first.”
The announcement of her departure came in a post on X on Monday afternoon.
White House director of communications Steven Cheung touted her “phenomenal job” as secretary, “protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”
Deputy Secretary of Labour Keith Sonderling will take on the role of acting secretary, he added.
In her post, Chavez-Deremer spoke about her work for the Trump administration, which included preparing “workers to excel in the age of AI”, and efforts to lower drug costs and to promote “retirement security”.
“Thank you, President Trump,” she wrote. “While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s departure follows Trump’s removal of Pam Bondi from her position of attorney general earlier in April and his firing of Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary who led his immigration push, in March.
The New York Post first reported in January that the labour department’s inspector general – an independent lawyer – had launched an investigation into Chavez-DeRemer for workplace misconduct.
The complaint filed against her alleged she was drinking alcohol during the workday in her office and committing “travel fraud” by having staff devise official work trips to destinations she wanted to visit, according to the Post.
She has denied any wrongdoing.
The labor department’s inspector general “does not have a comment,” an official from the office told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, on Monday. The official would not confirm that an investigation exists or its status.
Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, an anesthesiologist who cofounded an anesthesia management company and several medical clinics with his wife, was banned earlier this year from department headquarters in Washington after two female employees reported that he had touched them inappropriately, sources with knowledge of the matter told CBS News.
One of the women filed a police report in December, but federal prosecutors decided not to pursue charges against DeRemer after reviewing evidence, including security camera footage, CBS reported.
Lawyers for Shawn DeRemer have denied the allegations.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro at the time said “there is no indication of a crime”.
Chavez-Deremer served one term as a US House representative from Oregon and was mayor of a small town named Happy Valley for eight years.
By BBC News
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