'Strong candidate': Elizabeth Warren signals she could support Donald Trump's labor secretary pick
Posted on 12/06/2024
WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., signaled that she may back Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., for labor secretary, a major progressive figure being willing to work with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
In a statement on Tuesday, Warren said that if Chavez-DeRemer “commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power, she’s a strong candidate for the job.”
Chavez-DeRemer was one of three Republican House co-sponsors of a sweeping pro-union bill called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, aimed at expanding labor protections for individuals to collectively organize and bargain in their workplace.
Warren called it a “big deal” for one of the few Republicans who backed the act to potentially lead the Labor Department, but she also called her congressional colleague's nomination an “early test” for Trump's second administration.
“Will Trump stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment’s opposition? And if Republican Senators block Trump’s labor nominee for standing with unions, it will show that the party’s support for workers is all talk,” she said.
Warren’s statement comes after another progressive leader, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., engaged with billionaire Elon Musk in a post on X on government spending. Musk is set to co-lead a new initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in Trump's administration.
"Elon Musk is right. The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions," Sanders wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. "Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change."
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., also became the first Democrat to announce he would join a Department of Government Efficiency caucus in Congress on Tuesday, per PunchBowl News.
“I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue,” he said in a statement.
Contributing: Sarah Wire, USA TODAY
In a statement on Tuesday, Warren said that if Chavez-DeRemer “commits as labor secretary to strengthen labor unions and promote worker power, she’s a strong candidate for the job.”
Chavez-DeRemer was one of three Republican House co-sponsors of a sweeping pro-union bill called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, aimed at expanding labor protections for individuals to collectively organize and bargain in their workplace.
Warren called it a “big deal” for one of the few Republicans who backed the act to potentially lead the Labor Department, but she also called her congressional colleague's nomination an “early test” for Trump's second administration.
“Will Trump stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment’s opposition? And if Republican Senators block Trump’s labor nominee for standing with unions, it will show that the party’s support for workers is all talk,” she said.
Warren’s statement comes after another progressive leader, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., engaged with billionaire Elon Musk in a post on X on government spending. Musk is set to co-lead a new initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in Trump's administration.
"Elon Musk is right. The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions," Sanders wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. "Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change."
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., also became the first Democrat to announce he would join a Department of Government Efficiency caucus in Congress on Tuesday, per PunchBowl News.
“I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue,” he said in a statement.
Contributing: Sarah Wire, USA TODAY
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