PNW Democrats among lawmakers urging Chavez-DeRemer to avoid Labor Dept cuts
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Amid concerns over "drastic" job cuts at the U.S. Department of Labor, a group of lawmakers, including some in the Pacific Northwest, are calling on Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to reverse course.
On Friday, a group of 40 Senate and House lawmakers sent a letter to Sec. Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican Congresswoman who represented Oregon's Fifth Congressional District. The letter was led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and joined by other Oregon lawmakers including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01).
In their letter, the lawmakers pointed to a Labor Department memo outlined in a Bloomberg Law report with plans to slash 90% of staff under the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and plans to close more than 50 local Labor Department offices across the U.S.
The letter comes after Chavez-DeRemer sent an email to OFCCP employees earlier in April, stating they have until Monday, April 14 to accept the "fork in the road" deferred resignation offer or be fired, according to the lawmakers.
Chavez-DeRemer's email follows an executive order signed by President Trump in January, which revoked a 1965 executive order giving the Labor Department the authority to investigate and remedy employment discrimination based on race, religion and national origin by federal contractors.
Now, the lawmakers argue that the planned cuts to the Labor Department would leave workers "vulnerable to discrimination."
“Drastic cuts to staff and shuttered offices in our communities would leave workers vulnerable to discrimination," the lawmakers wrote to Chavez-DeRemer. "While Executive Order 11246 was revoked, the agency remains responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws and equal employment requirements for workers with disabilities and veterans."
OFCCP is responsible for investigating complaints from workers and reviewing federal contractors' employment practices to protect workers from discrimination and help recover back pay and negotiate job opportunities.
In 2024 alone, OFCCP recovered $22.5 million for more than 12,000 workers, according to the lawmakers.
"As of mid-February, the agency had 317 investigators. These investigators remain responsible for investigating thousands of contractor establishments that employ millions of workers. The estimated 36 million federal workers dispersed across the United States make investigators in regional and district offices critical for effective enforcement,” the letter continues.
“The Department cannot abdicate its responsibility to workers. We urge you to abandon plans to dismantle OFCCP and reaffirm the Department’s commitment to protecting equal employment opportunities for federal contract workers,” the lawmakers concluded.
The letter was led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH-11). Other lawmakers joining the letter include Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Reps. Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).
The letter received several endorsements from organizations including the American Federation of Government Employees, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Partnership for Women and Families.