6 Questions for Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Senators should ask this nominee for U.S. Labor Secretary to make her beliefs about independent contractors clear.
Confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet appointees are expected to start soon. This will be an important opportunity for the public to learn more about Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the nominee for U.S. Labor Secretary, and her beliefs about independent contractors.
She was a surprise pick who has drawn concern from some Republicans and tentative praise from some Democrats, largely because she supported the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Most Republicans opposed the PRO Act, which, among other things, would have spread California’s disastrous freelance-busting regulatory language nationwide, threatening the incomes and careers of millions of independent contractors.
Chavez-DeRemer also declined to support a Republican-led effort to reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s independent contractor rule. The rule itself stated that most independent contractors opposed it, and it is now facing numerous legal challenges (including this lawsuit where I am among the plaintiffs).
In addition to Chavez-DeRemer’s record on independent-contractor policymaking, her nomination is being championed by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, one of the loudest freelance-busting voices in the nation. When O’Brien was asked in 2022 whether he wants to see “gig economy” companies such as Uber and Lyft unionized, he replied:
“I’d like to see everything unionized, not just those companies. Look, I think we can all agree that over the years, the independent contractor model has skirted a lot of wage and hour laws, and basically circumvents unionization. I’d love to see every single industry represented by a union.”
As my grandmother used to say, oy vey.
We have all learned in recent years that everyone’s freedom to earn a living is on the line with this kind of freelance-busting attitude. America’s independent contractors deserve answers from a nominee who, more than once, supported the idea of threatening our livelihoods—and the livelihoods of future generations of entrepreneurs in hundreds upon hundreds of professions.
It’s my hope that at Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing, Republicans such as Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Tim Scott of South Carolina—who have been great about defending everyone’s freedom to choose self-employment—will ask tough questions to understand exactly where this nominee stands.
Here are six questions that I’d like to see senators ask.
Question 1
California’s Assembly Bill 5 went into effect five years ago, in January 2020. Democrats such as California Governor Gavin Newsom touted this law as a way to create traditional jobs and pathways to unionization. Instead, research shows that AB5 tanked self-employment by 10.5%, crashed overall employment by 4.4% and failed to increase union membership. It was, quite simply, an income and career killer.
Californians, when given a chance, voted nearly 60-40 to protect independent contractors from this type of policymaking. California lawmakers also backtracked, passing an emergency measure that ultimately exempted more than 100 professions just so people could continue to earn a living.
All of this fallout was documented prior to July 2024, when you chose to join Democrats as a co-sponsor of the PRO Act in an attempt to spread this California-style policymaking nationwide.
Why do you believe an idea that proved so destructive and unpopular in California would be good for the rest of America?
Question 2
During President Trump’s first administration, the U.S. Department of Labor implemented a rule to try and protect independent contractors from California-style freelance busting. The person who had the job you are now seeking—U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia—wrote that the Trump-era rule was needed “so that the many Americans who prefer being in business for themselves can continue to do so.”
The Biden-Harris administration then came into power and rescinded that Trump-era rule. The Biden-Harris team implemented a new rule that most independent contractors said was “biased against independent contracting,” and that is now facing numerous legal challenges, including from independent contractors themselves.
You had a chance, as a member of the House of Representatives, to join with Republicans who sought to reverse the Biden-Harris rule. You declined.
If you are confirmed as U.S. Labor Secretary, do you intend to return to the Trump rule, keep the Biden-Harris rule or do something else?
Question 3
Your record in the House of Representatives makes clear that you are pro-union. Your nomination is being supported the leaders of several prominent unions. Your most vocal champion is Sean O’Brien, the head of the Teamsters union, who has said that he would “like to see everything unionized.”
That idea—of requiring everyone to be in a union job—is something the majority of Americans reject. According to Gallup polling, more than six in 10 adults would prefer to be their own boss instead of having any kind of traditional job. Also according to Gallup, while most Americans support labor unions, 80% of Americans either do not wish to join a union themselves, or are at best neutral on the subject.
If you are confirmed as U.S. Labor Secretary, do you intend to pursue policies with a goal of forcing unionization on all working Americans?
Question 4
In November 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that more than 80% of self-employed Americans prefer the way they are earning a living. Only 8% of independent contractors said they would prefer a traditional job.
Prior surveys have shown the same thing. This previous research goes back at least a decade, to 2015, when the U.S. Government Accountability Office produced a report noting that “more than 85 percent of independent contractors and the self-employed appeared content with their employment type.”
Given this strong preference for independent contracting, and given the recent legislative and regulatory attacks on Americans’ freedom to be self-employed, what steps would you take as U.S. Labor Secretary to preserve and protect everyone’s right to be their own boss?
Question 5
In mid-December, the outgoing team at the U.S. Labor Department posted on X that after four years of prioritizing enforcement to stop the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, the department had recovered about $41 million in back wages for about 28,000 workers.
That first figure—$41 million—is shockingly lower than the amount of money lawmakers claimed was out there waiting to be recovered. A leading Democrat in the House of Representatives, for instance, claimed that misclassification costs workers nearly $4 billion a year in lost wages and benefits.
Similarly, the fact that only 28,000 workers were helped is also deeply at odds with the recent narrative about misclassification. The claims have been that 10% to 30% of employers misclassify employees as independent contractors, but 28,000 people is less than 1% of all independent contractors.
Do you believe the U.S. Labor Department should continue to prioritize misclassification enforcement? Or has the true scope of the problem been mischaracterized?
Question 6
Back in August, a government Work Arrangements Committee was formed. Among other things, this committee will look into changing the confusing way that the government counts the number of independent contractors nationwide.
But the committee determining a new strategy does not appear to include any independent contractors. This omission is part of a deeply disturbing pattern in which we have seen multiple branches of government make policies and write legislation about independent contractors without giving those same independent contractors a meaningful seat at the table.
If you are confirmed as U.S. Labor Secretary, how will you ensure that America’s tens of millions of independent contractors are given a serious voice in policymaking?