Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer had ‘inappropriate relationship’ with member of security detail, created a ‘toxic’ work environment: IG report
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer appears for a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing on Capitol Hill on June 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The former Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer had an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of her security detail and created a “toxic” work environment, according to a report from the department’s Office of Inspector General.
The long-awaited report quietly released Thursday night details the allegations against Chavez-DeRemer and members of her senior staff. She resigned as secretary in April and members of her senior staff were fired, according to the report.
Anthony D’Esposito, the Labor Department Inspector General, found that more than 30 witnesses said Chavez-DeRemer created a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” work environment. The Inspector General opened the investigation after receiving a complaint in January 2026 about an inappropriate work environment under Chavez-DeRemer.
In one instance highlighted in the report, during personal travel to Oregon in April 2025, Chavez-DeRemer allegedly stopped at a club with “partially nude” dancers, had her head of security rearrange the detail so her limousine driver could enter with her, and then gave a member for the detail cash from her purse and had him give it to a performer.
“When the agent resisted and sought guidance from ASAIC 1, ASAIC 1 instructed him to comply with Chavez-DeRemer’s requests,” according to the report. “Chavez-DeRemer then took additional money from her purse and asked the agent to drop the bills one by one onto the partially nude woman.”
Chavez-DeRemer also allegedly had an “inappropriately close and unprofessional relationship” with a member of her security detail who “exercised supervisory and operational authority over her protective detail,” according to the report.
The report also alleges that Chavez-DeRemer used her staff for personal tasks, such as organizing her closet and purchasing holiday ornaments.
Chavez-DeRemer also accepted gifts and did not properly report them, according to the Inspector General. Those gifts included rodeo tickets, an alligator wallet and two cowboy hats, according to the report.
A text message to the former secretary was not returned; ABC News reached out to Chavez-DeRemer’s attorney as well.
ABC News has reached out to the Labor Department for comment.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on ABC News’ ‘This Week’ on Jan. 25, 2026. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday released a rendering of a commemorative coin featuring President Donald Trump, saying that the U.S. Mint will begin striking the $1 piece to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“As America commemorates 250 years of independence, the [U.S. Mint] will begin striking this new $1 gold coin to honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism,” Bessent wrote in a social media post. “Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all.”
The coins — which are not real gold but will feature a gold-like finish — will be available in the fall, a Treasury Department spokesperson said.
The last and only time a living president was featured on hard currency struck by the U.S. Mint was a century ago for the U.S. Sesquicentennial. The half-dollar coin featured then-President Calvin Coolidge silhouetted behind the bust of President George Washington. At the time, the Mint produced a million of the coins with 860,000 of them ultimately returned and melted due to low demand.
While living presidents are generally barred from appearing on U.S. currency, the Trump administration has argued that the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 permits the design because it authorizes the Treasury secretary to oversee the minting of special commemorative coins for the nation’s Semiquincentennial. And while the same law bars any person from appearing on the tail side of a commemorative coin, the restriction doesn’t apply to its face.
Federal law also stipulates that coin designs be selected by the Treasury secretary after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts, which approved the design last March, and review from the bipartisan Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-person body established by Congress in 2003 to advise on designs of hard currency.
But the Treasury Department appears to have skipped the latter committee, raising questions about the legality of the coin’s production.
Donald Scarinci, a numismatist and Democrat who’s spent over two decades on the committee, said aside from a last-minute attempt by the Mint to present the proposed coin to the committee in December, the body never had a chance to review the design as required by law.
“We’ve never seen any design with the portrait of Donald Trump on it,” Scarinci told ABC News on Wednesday.
Scarinci said the proposed December meeting ultimately didn’t occur because it was impossible to reach a quorum of members on such short notice.
During the committee’s February meeting, another member of the board, Kellen Hoard, a coin collector who represents the general public, also said that the board received no opportunity to weigh in on the coin, nor did they review the designs ultimately selected for the Semiquincentennial series of quarters.
“I have never reviewed the Semiquincentennial $1 coin portfolio, much less been given an opportunity to review it. Is it legal now for the Mint to move forward with creating the Semiquincentennial $1 coin despite me never having the opportunity to review the piece?” Hoard asked acting Mint Chief Counsel Greg Weinman at the meeting.
Weinman replied that he did not agree with Hoard’s characterization and said that the Mint’s position is the board made the decision to not review the design.
“I think the Mint made a significant effort to request the CCAC to review the portfolio. There was clearly a conscious decision not to do so. The Mint has moved forward accordingly. I am not prepared to discuss more than that at this meeting,” Weinman said.
“I believe the CCAC was given — at least the chair of the CCAC was given a full opportunity to review this portfolio,” Weinman added later. “The Mint, in my opinion, attempted multiple times to find an opportunity for the CCAC to review the portfolio. The CCAC made a decision not to. At least the chair of the CCAC made the decision not to.”
“The concept that the secretary of the Treasury can create his own coin — it’s illegal,” Scarinci said of the move, adding that Congress would have the authority to confiscate and demonetize the coins and that concern about the coin crosses partisan boundaries on the committee.
“This is not a Democrat-Republican issue as far as the coin is concerned,” he said.
A Treasury spokesperson told ABC News, “During the January meeting, Megan Sullivan, the acting chief of the U.S. Mint’s office of design management, assured board members that ‘legal research from both the Mint and the Department of the Treasury determined that the proposed coin would not violate any laws and is legal under the law authorizing the minting of coins for the Sesquicentennial.'”
The coin is not the only piece of currency that the Treasury Department is putting Trump’s imprint on. Paper currency printed this year will also feature Trump’s signature above that of Bessent’s — a first for an American president. Bessent told Fox News earlier this week that, too, would go into circulation this fall.
In May, Trump administration officials pushed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to move forward with designing a commemorative $250 bill with Trump’s portrait and signature, should legislation to create the new currency pass, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
That bill has been stuck in the House Financial Services Committee for more than a year.
The U.S Supreme Court is seen on June 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. . (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rolled back longstanding limits on the amount of money political parties can spend in coordination with individual candidates for federal office — a ruling that could unleash a wave of new spending before the midterms. The Supreme Court said the spending limits violate the First Amendment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks while aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Oct. 7, 2026. (POOL via ABC News)
The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group will return to its homeport of San Diego on Thursday, concluding a 10-month deployment to the Middle East where it played a key role in the war with Iran and set a new record of 265 days in between ports of call.
In all, the ship will have spent 321 days on deployment, the second-longest since the end of the Cold War. The longest deployment was set earlier this year when the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford returned from a 326-day deployment to Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Lincoln on Wednesday ahead of its return home and praised the ship’s crew for its resilience and dedication during the lengthy deployment.
Hegseth told sailors gathered on the carrier’s flight deck that he had extended their deployment twice — in recent years typical carrier strike deployments have lasted seven months.
“I plead guilty, A., because of the incredible effectiveness that you showcased on the battlefield and the necessity. But also B., the mission required it, and C., because President Trump had full faith that you would deliver on behalf of the American people, and you did” he, added.
“What the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group did, no other carrier strike group has ever done,” Hegseth said, listing its accomplishments: “10,000 sorties, 23,000 combat flight hours, almost 4,000 combat sorties, 1.5 million pounds of ordinance dropped on the enemy,” to cheers from sailors.
The aircraft assigned to the carrier had returned to their home bases in California and Washington state earlier in the week.
The Lincoln’s crew suffered from supply disruptions caused by the start of the war that impacted food stocks and the long deployment led to reports that the crew’s mental health was suffering.
The Navy has reported that there were eight suicide attempts aboard the carrier during the deployment, including one sailor who jumped overboard and was later rescued.
That figure that appears to be on the lower end of what is experienced during carrier deployments, according to a U.S. official.
“There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol,” Hegesth said. “A symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission. And what I look out right here or when I talk to your leadership, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to a number of you, I know it’s the exact opposite.”
At the conclusion of his remarks, Hegseth announced that the Lincoln carrier strike group was being awarded the prestigious Presidential Unit Citation, an award for distinction given to military units.
When he read the citation to the crew, he disclosed more statistics about the carrier group’s air operations against Iran that have not previously been disclosed.
That included: 3,693 combat sorties, 1.37 million pounds of ordnance dropped on Iranian targets, the launching of 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles by warships accompanying the carrier, the shoot-down of 77 Iranian one-way attack drones and 21 anti-ship cruise missiles, the defense against four fast-attack craft and explosive-carrying dhows, and helping with the sinking of 64 Iranian warships.
Navy officials have said that the Lincoln’s deployment has helped them make quality of life improvements for future lengthy carrier deployments, including that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt which left San Diego a week ago bound for the Middle East.
“Roosevelt is maximizing its load-out of food, retail products and hygiene items before getting underway,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Chief of Naval Operations, said in a recently released video.
“The crew is converting available spaces into additional storage, building the ability to remain self-sufficient for longer periods, especially when resupply may be difficult,” said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman.
And quality of life is a focus with new entertainment equipment available to sailors. as well as more durable fitness equipmen. and spare cardio machines.
The carrier’s systems are also being upgraded with software updates and instructions, and being pre-staged aboard the ship,” allowing the crew to keep critical services running even when bandwidth is limited or the ship is operating in a degraded condition,” Caudle said.
Improvements have also been made to climate control systems and a specialized team will be on board to inspect and optimize those systems, Perryman said.
And improvements are being made to keep families informed about the deployment.
“As one carrier returns home, we listen to its sailors and families. We capture what worked and what didn’t, and we make it better the next time,” Prettyman said. “To the Lincoln team, thank you for what you accomplished and for what you taught us, and to the Roosevelt team, we’re doing everything we can to make sure you are ready for the mission. You and your families.”
