Watchdog report details "toxic" workplace and misused funds under former labor secretary

A federal watchdog has concluded that Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned as labor secretary in April, presided over a hostile and dysfunctional workplace at the Department of Labor, misused government resources for personal travel, and maintained an "inappropriately close and unprofessional relationship" with a member of her security detail, according to a 44-page report released Thursday by the department's Office of Inspector General.

The findings cap a monthslong investigation into one of the Trump administration's shortest-serving cabinet secretaries and land as her successor, Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling, awaits a full Senate vote to hold the job permanently.

What the report found

Investigators interviewed 53 current and former Labor Department employees, plus a staffer from another federal agency, and reviewed more than 500 documents, photographs and videos over the course of the inquiry. More than three dozen of those witnesses described a work environment under Chavez-DeRemer as "toxic, intimidating and humiliating," the report states.

Beyond the workplace culture findings, investigators concluded that Chavez-DeRemer repeatedly blended personal and official travel, including trips to Las Vegas and Oregon, in violation of federal travel rules; drank alcohol on the job and kept it on federal property without authorization; and failed to report gifts, including rodeo tickets, a wallet, cowboy hats and baby items, as required under ethics rules. The report also describes staff being directed to run personal errands for her, including retrieving packages, arranging purchases and organizing a bedroom closet. During a personal trip to Oregon, the report alleges, she directed her driver to enter a strip club and hand a performer cash, a request the driver said he initially resisted.

Investigators separately documented what they described as an unprofessional relationship with a senior member of her security detail, citing overnight hotel stays confirmed through electronic key-card records, golf outings and physical contact including shoulder massages. The report also found that staff in her office were instructed to weigh a candidate's physical appearance in hiring decisions, rather than relying solely on qualifications, a practice investigators flagged as inconsistent with federal personnel rules.

A year in the making

Chavez-DeRemer, a former one-term Republican congresswoman from Oregon, was confirmed 67-32 by the Senate in March 2025, with 17 Democrats crossing over to support her. The bipartisan backing reflected her record in the House, where she was one of only three Republicans to co-sponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, and the administration frequently cited her as evidence of inroads with organized labor. The inspector general's inquiry began in January 2026 after an anonymous complaint alleging misconduct inside her office, and widened over the following months as two of her top aides were placed on administrative leave and ultimately resigned amid the same probe.

She stepped down on April 20, one day before investigators were scheduled to interview her directly. Her attorney said at the time that the resignation was "a personal decision" unrelated to any legal wrongdoing. Keith Sonderling, who had served as her deputy, took over the department on an acting basis and was formally nominated by President Trump in June to hold the post permanently.

Fallout at the department, and on Capitol Hill

The report's release does not change Chavez-DeRemer's legal exposure directly — the inspector general's office refers findings to prosecutors or the department for further action, and no criminal charges have been announced. But it lands at an awkward moment for Sonderling, whose nomination cleared the Senate's health and labor committee on a party-line 12-11 vote in late July following a confirmation hearing and now awaits action by the full Senate. Sonderling served as deputy secretary throughout the period covered by the investigation, though the report does not accuse him of wrongdoing.

Democrats on the House Education and Workforce Committee, which oversees the department, had pressed the inspector general for months to make the findings public. Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Bobby Scott of Virginia, wrote to the inspector general and to Sonderling in April demanding the release of the completed report once the investigation concluded. When Chavez-DeRemer resigned, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said in a statement that it was "ironic" the secretary charged with protecting American workers had "allegedly led one of the most toxic workplaces in Washington," and called for a successor with "a strong history of supporting workers, America's unions, and the mission of the Department of Labor."

Chavez-DeRemer's attorney, Nick Oberheiden, disputed the report's implications on Friday, arguing that the findings do not amount to any legal violation.

"Secretary Chavez-DeRemer did not violate any law. That's important to point out and contrast to the premature and incorrect speculation of some."

He added, in a separate statement reported by NBC News, that Chavez-DeRemer "looks back with the same pride of having served President Trump's administration and the American workers," regardless of how critics characterize her management of the department. The Labor Department did not immediately comment on the report's findings, and Chavez-DeRemer did not respond directly to requests for comment relayed through her attorney, according to multiple outlets that received the report, including PBS NewsHour.

The employees who worked under Chavez-DeRemer, including career civil servants inside a department responsible for enforcing the nation's workplace-safety and wage laws, are the most immediate parties affected by the findings. Several current and former staffers were among the witnesses interviewed, and the report describes internal communications that investigators characterized as abusive, which senior leadership did not address at the time. The department itself, which enforces wage, safety and anti-discrimination statutes affecting millions of American workplaces, has been led by two different people within thirteen months: Chavez-DeRemer, then Sonderling in an acting capacity, with his permanent confirmation still pending before the full Senate.

What happens next

The Senate has not scheduled a floor vote on Sonderling's nomination, and it remains unclear whether Democrats will use the inspector general's findings to press for additional scrutiny of his tenure as deputy secretary before any vote is held. The inspector general's office has not indicated whether any of its findings will be referred elsewhere for further review, and the Labor Department has not said whether it will take any additional personnel action tied to the report. Chavez-DeRemer, for her part, has not held public office or a federal role since her resignation and has not signaled any plans to seek one.