Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump's pick to be the next Labor Secretary, is a disaster. Her views are an affront to everything conservatives believe in and what they have fought for.
Conservatives have a fondness for saying "Make America Florida." They recognize that their policies have worked at the state level, which is why red states have seen so much more growth in terms of GDP and population flows. The American people are voting with their feet.
Chavez-DeRemer's motto can be better summed up as "Make America California." She wants to force red states to adopt the labor policies that have caused massive migration outflows from the more liberal parts of the country.
Republicans at the state level in recent years have been making impressive gains, riding the backlash to DEI and covid restrictions to take on the teacher's unions, and in many states have now enacted universal school choice.
This pick threatens to undo many of these gains.
Chavez-DeRemer's track record in Congress raises significant concerns about her alignment with conservative principles, particularly her overt support for labor unions at the expense of worker freedom and state sovereignty. Her actions demonstrate a troubling pattern of prioritizing union interests over policies that protect workers' rights to make independent choices.
Chavez-DeRemer's sponsorship of the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act represents a clear federal overreach into state authority. This bill would undermine the labor reforms implemented by Republicans in states like Wisconsin and Florida, which have successfully limited the power of public sector unions to protect taxpayers and ensure government efficiency. By supporting such a measure, Chavez-DeRemer advocates for a one-size-fits-all federal approach that disregards the rights of states to govern labor relations within their borders.
Do you think that teachers unions have too much power in California or New York? Have you read about the financial catastrophe that is unfolding Illinois, a state that is bleeding residents and has become an economic basket case? Imagine a Republican Labor Secretary who believes Florida and Texas must adopt the same policies. Kamala Harris has never supported anything this radical. After all we've learned about unions through covid, are we going to just end up with policies more radical than what we saw from the Biden administration?
Chavez-DeRemer's endorsement of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) threatens to dismantle critical worker protections in right-to-work states. Right-to-work laws, which exist in 27 states, guarantee that workers cannot be forced to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. Chavez-DeRemer’s support for abolishing these laws through federal intervention is an affront to worker choice and autonomy, effectively forcing individuals to fund union activities regardless of their personal beliefs or interests.
Chavez-DeRemer has the backing of American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. These are the people who fight every attempt by Republicans to free themselves from the grips of education bureaucracies and public sector unions. They are the ones who forced children to be masked for years, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming to opening up the schools again.
Can Chavez-DeRemer be stopped? It's going to be difficult. Democrats will all vote for her. They couldn't have in their wildest dreams hoped that Trump would appoint someone who wanted to make Florida into California. They would only need a handful of Republicans to push her through.
For forty years, states with more conservative economic policies have been gaining more people and growing faster. See here for a deep dive: richardhanania.com/p/fo…
Why, upon Trump's victory, should conservatives suddenly decide that California had it right all along?