Democrats Put Labor Nominee Over the Top

Lori Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed as Labor secretary on Monday with bipartisan support, after the former US House member had drawn opposition from a few Republicans. The vote was 67-32, the Hill reports. Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, and Ted Budd voted no; 17 Democrats voted yes. Democrat John Fetterman sat the balloting out. In running the Labor Department, which has almost 16,000 full-time employees, Chavez-DeRemer will be responsible for enforcing worker protections while the Trump administration tries to dismiss thousands of government employees, per the AP.

In the House, Chavez-DeRemer co-sponsored the PRO Act to help unions organize. It was popular with Democrats, and Democratic support in committee helped advance her nomination. Republicans also considered the record of President Trump's choice to generally be supportive of labor, per CBS News. McConnell cited the PRO Act on Monday in explaining his vote. "Most Americans believe joining a union should be a personal choice—not a mandate—which is why more than half the states, including Kentucky, have adopted right-to-work laws," he said. (More Lori Chavez-DeRemer stories.)