Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling appears to be on a glide path to lead his department permanently.
Sonderling was promoted to the Department of Labor‘s deputy secretary in April after the dismissal of his former boss, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, amid scandals embroiling her and her husband, Shawn.
As a Senate-confirmed deputy secretary, it is widely understood Sonderling can continue in an acting capacity, in part because of former President Joe Biden‘s indefinite nomination of then-Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su after it became evident she did not have enough support among Democrats for the permanent position.
Sonderling also appears to have support from the White House.
“Keith Sonderling is doing a great job serving as the acting Labor Secretary,” one Trump White House official told the Washington Examiner. “Any announcement will be made by the president in due time.”
That news was unexpectedly welcomed by at least one labor union, particularly considering Sonderling’s pro-business policy record.
“We’ve had some meetings with Sonderling,” one union official told the Washington Examiner on the condition of anonymity. “He’s a smart person.”
The source added: “As things stand right now, the way they are right now, we are good with that.”
But the official underscored how the “spotlight” Trump has shone on the importance of manufacturing and production in the United States is “something that we would want to see that continue,” including through the passage of the Faster Labor Contracts Act.
“I mean, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would say that we feel like we’re heard by the administration,” the source said. “We’re just continuing to advocate on behalf of our members.”
A Trump administration official source told the Washington Examiner that if he were “a betting man,” he would “bet on Keith” being the permanent secretary because Sonderling is “respected by the administration,” despite not having the charisma of some of the president’s other picks.
“The president will eventually nominate him to be the secretary,” the source said. “The morale and the feeling in the building and throughout the agency was in trouble, and since Keith has taken the helm, things are organized. People are happy to be at work again, and the actual work of the department is being done.”
A Labor Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
Sonderling, who was also in the running to be the original secretary responsible for the Trump administration’s policies regarding workers’ wages, safety, health, and benefits, had an outsize leadership role at the department during Chavez-DeRemer’s reported absences as she traveled for business and pleasure amid allegations that she had created a toxic workplace. She left the department on April 20.
The Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General, in fact, investigated a complaint made in December that Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff Jihun Han and his deputy, Rebecca Wright, made up official trips for the secretary to facilitate government-funded personal travel. A month later, Han and Wright were placed on administrative leave before being fired in March. That month, Chavez-DeRemer’s director of advance, Melissa Robey, was put on leave before being dismissed.
The same complaint also accused Chavez-DeRemer of being under the influence of alcohol while at work and having an extramarital affair with a member of her U.S. Secret Service detail, Brian Sloan. Sloan was placed on leave in January before resigning in March.
Simultaneously, the Metropolitan Police Department received complaints from two women alleging sexual misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, resulting in Shawn DeRemer being prohibited from the Labor Department’s headquarters since February. DeRemer has denied any wrongdoing.
Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination shortly after Trump’s reelection win in November 2024 was welcomed by unions, including International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who declined to endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris during the campaign and recommended Chavez-DeRemer to the president-elect for the post.
Chavez-DeRemer had been embraced by unions as a member of Congress for her July 2024 cosponsorship of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would have expanded worker rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace.
Sonderling, who was acting administrator of the first Trump Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, has a more traditionally conservative labor and deregulation record dating back to his time as a labor and employment attorney in Florida, with business groups lobbying the president to make him Chavez-DeRemer’s No. 2 to balance her own record.
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Prior to returning to the Labor Department, he was a member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
He is anticipated to prioritize addressing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency in the workplace, supporting independent contractors and gig economy workers, and encouraging the use of self-audit compliance programs.