Top-Level Labor Dept. Staffers Placed on Admin. Leave Pending OIG Investigation of Sec. Chavez-DeRemer

There's a bit of shake-up in the U.S. Department of Labor, and it is coming straight from the top. According to reports, an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation was opened on Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and the investigation has swept up some top staffers in the Labor Department. Whether this OIG investigation will disrupt President Donald Trump's "American Workers First" and affordability focus remains to be seen.

 Multiple employees at the Department of Labor have been placed on leave pending an inspector general’s investigation into alleged misconduct by Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, according to two people familiar with the matter.

At least one additional staffer has been temporarily relieved of their duties after two longtime aides were placed on administrative leave earlier this week in connection with the probe, the sources said.

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Chief of Staff Jihun Han and Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright are the two "longtime aides" who have been placed on leave due to reports of their involvement in facilitating the alleged misconduct committed by Chavez-DeRemer, including travel fraud and abuse of the office.

Chavez-DeRemer, 57, was accused in a complaint filed with the DOL’s Office of Inspector General in December of committing “travel fraud” by having the two aides “make up” official trips to locations where the secretary can spend personal time or visit with family and friends.

Those favored destinations included Oregon, where she hails from and first ran for Congress in 2022; Arizona, where she and her husband have a home; Michigan, where her daughter resides; and Las Vegas, which she flew to at least four times in 2025, according to the complaint and travel schedules.

Of her more than 50 official trips outside DC as labor secretary in 2025, at least 10 were to one of those spots, per travel schedules.

The abuse of office accusation involves a reported "inappropriate" relationship with a subordinate. The NY Post alleged that this subordinate was welcomed into Chavez-DeRemer's D.C. home and at her hotel on several of the trips the Labor Secretary took in 2025.

The subordinate has since been sidelined from regular duties since the IG investigation kicked off, sources added, after previously declining to comment on the allegations and stating that he had lawyers, whose contact information he did not provide.

Additional allegations in the OIG complaint accuse Chavez-DeRemer of "being a 'boss from hell' by forcing aides to run personal errands or perform other menial tasks while on the clock." The complaint also accuses the secretary of being a day drinker.

Chief of Staff Jihun Han is a Chavez-DeRemer loyalist. He credits his start in politics to Chavez-DeRemer and campaigned for her in 2016 and 2022. When Chavez-DeRemer won the 2022 congressional seat, Han moved to D.C. as part of her congressional staff.

[Han] hopped on the campaign trail with Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in her 2022 bid for a House seat, the culmination of a near decades long relationship between the two. After winning the congressional race, Jihun moved with Rep. Chavez-DeRemer to D.C., first as her Transition Aid, then as her Chief of Staff at the beginning of 2023.

Deputy Chief of Staff Rebecca Wright has a less clannish involvement with Chavez-DeRemer, but was actively embroiled in the Oregon Republican caucus during Chavez-DeRemer's 2022-2024 House of Representatives term. Wright worked as Chavez-DeRemer's 5th congressional district director in Oregon, then acted as deputy campaign manager for Republican state Rep. Christine Drazan’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign before attaining the deputy position. 

The inspector general is investigating whether Chavez-Remer’s chief of staff, Jihun Han, and his deputy, Rebecca Wright, engaged in “travel fraud” by setting up professional events for their boss as an excuse for personal travel, these people said.

It is curious that the least visible and vocal member of the Trump administration cabinet is the one that might be on the chopping block. Democrats and the Left have their fire trained at Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Kristi Noem, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Border Czar Tom Homan. But the Labor Secretary? Seems like small change. 

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In April 2025, Chavez-DeRemer embarked on an “America at Work,” 50-state listening tour to promote Trump's policies for workers and has completed 33 visits so far. It is unclear if this OIG investigation will bring a cessation to this DOL initiative, but as of this week, the Labor Secretary was still promoting her travel on the Secretary of Labor's X account.

If the OIG investigation proves to be inconclusive and President Trump is content to leave Chavez-DeRemer in her role, then this may be all smoke with no fire. Trump has bigger battles to wage, and this one may well just be a manufactured irritation.

Working in her favor is the difficult nature of replacing a Republican labor secretary who boasts support from both business groups and unions. As a Latina from a suburban swing district in Oregon, she came to represent the broad coalition who lifted Trump to a second term. And with a slim GOP majority in the Senate, the president won’t be eager for a confirmation battle.

“He doesn’t want to try to find somebody who’s acceptable to his constituents in unions, as well as his management-side interests,” said Joseph Schmitt, a management-side attorney with Nilan Johnson Lewis PA. “He was able to thread that needle once.”

For now, the labor secretary’s standing with the president appears unshaken. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Chavez-DeRemer has Trump’s “full support.”

In Thursday's press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also affirmed Trump's support of the Labor Secretary.

The White House referred NBC News to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement Thursday that Trump is aware of the probe and “stands by the secretary.” But she couldn’t confirm whether the president had spoken to Chavez-DeRemer about the investigation.

“He thinks that she’s doing a tremendous job at the Department of Labor on behalf of American workers,” Leavitt said in a press briefing Thursday.

Political watchers and analysts on both sides of the aisle are apathetic about where this IG investigation might lead or of Chavez-DeRemer' fate should the allegations prove true. 

On a recent podcast, former Biden 2020 campaign regional communications director Hyma Moore said that "she hasn't really done much to prove" that she helps Trump's economic policies; my colleague at sister site Townhall, Larry O'Connor, agreed, saying "I think she’s done,” while adding that “She has no constituency, really, to protect her.”

The consensus: Chavez-DeRemer is on her way out, but no one will be shedding tears. Not exactly popcorn-worthy, but worth staying tuned.