Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who invests in an Oregon cannabis business, was sworn in Tuesday as Secretary of Labor.
Arguably one of President Donald Trump’s least controversial nominees, Chavez-DeRemer, was approved by the Senate on a 67-32 bipartisan vote March 10.
“As a small businesswoman and the daughter of a Teamster, I will act on my experience and work with business and labor to support good-paying jobs, grow our economy, and ensure every American can enjoy a comfortable retirement,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a March 11 statement.
While serving as a Republican House representative for Oregon from 2023 to 2025, she co-sponsored pro-labor and pro-cannabis legislation, including the SAFE Banking Act. Her nomination received support from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as well as the U.S. Minority Chamber of Commerce.
Chavez disclosed at least 10% ownership of SJJD Consulting in Multnomah County in her public financial disclosure report filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on Jan. 7. She said the value of her investment is between $1 million and $5 million.
SJJD Consulting’s primary operating business is Meraki Gardens, a family operated, organic cultivator in Portland. It had more than $500,000 in sales in January, according to Headset. Managing partner Stacie Jenkins declined to comment about Chavez-DeRemer.
Chavez-DeRemer takes helm as OSHA enforces safety rules
Chavez-DeRemer says workplace safety is one of her, and Trump’s, priorities. She steps in as the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been increasing education and enforcement of workplace safety rules in the cannabis industry.
Last year, OSHA launched an instructional program for marijuana and hemp businesses served by the Englewood and Denver area offices in Colorado. And in 2022, OSHA fined Trulieve Inc. $14,502 following the death of an employee at its Holyoke, Mass., production facility.
“I believe Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination will further the trend of OSHA becoming more involved in the cannabis industry,” said Kim Anzarut, founder and CEO of Allay Consulting, a cannabis and psilocybin compliance consulting firm in Denver, in a March 10 email. “We’re already seeing this increase in oversight in states like Colorado, and I expect more states to follow suit.”
On her first day on the job, Chavez-DeRemer sent a memo to agency heads instructing them to comply with Trump’s executive orders, according to Fox News Digital.
“I want to take this opportunity to emphasize our mission: to protect workers’ rights and ensure safe working conditions; ensure proper wages for all American workers; promote employee training; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for job growth; and assure work-related benefits including pensions,” she said in the memo, according to the article.
Anzarut said given Chavez-DeRemer’s history of supporting labor and cannabis reforms, she could play a role in advancing protections. “Regardless of federal legality, cannabis industry employees deserve the same worker protections, including union support and strong safety practices,” she said.
Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-union stance challenged
Chavez-DeRemer’s ownership of a cannabis business and her pro-cannabis positions did not come up during her Feb. 19 confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Instead, some Republicans challenged her pro-union support, including co-sponsoring the Protecting The Right To Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and other senators asked her if she still supported the PRO Act. She at first avoided a direct answer, replying that she recognizes that the bill was “imperfect” and she’s no longer a legislator. But upon Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., question, she replied that she no longer supports the part of the act that would overturn right-to-work laws, which allow workers to elect to not join a union or pay union dues.
She said, if confirmed, “My job will be to implement President Trump’s policy vision. And my guiding principle will be President Trump’s guiding principle – ensuring a level playing field for businesses, unions, and most importantly, the American worker.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., asked her if she was concerned that “we don’t have a functioning National Labor Relations Board” since Trump fired member Gwynne Wilcox. She said the NLRB is important, but the president has the right to make the decision.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) asked Chavez-DeRemer what would she do if the president gives her directives to not fund programs and lay off workers.
Chavez-DeRemer replied that was a “hypothetical” situation. “I do not believe the president will ever ask me to break the law,” she said.
However, according to Fox News, the Department of Labor has started on the same drastic cost-cutting route as other federal agencies under Trump’s leadership. The agency reportedly canceled $125 million in contracts, shut down internal gender ideology programs and canceled $56 million in “communication support redundancies.”
And federal courts have been ruling that Trump’s directives are illegal. On March 6, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Wilcox’s firing was illegal and ordered that she be restored to the NLRB to serve out her term. And on March 13, another federal judge ordered the reinstatement of probationary employees who were fired from six federal agencies under “unlawful” orders by the Office of Personnel Management.
