Senate confirms Trump cabinet pick Chavez-DeRemer despite scrutiny over ties to Planned Parenthood

The 25th member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet was confirmed Monday despite concerns about her past work for Planned Parenthood. 

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 67-32 to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the U.S. Secretary of Labor on Monday. While Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and Rand Paul, R-Ky. opposed her nomination, more than a dozen Democrats supported her confirmation, enabling her nomination to sail through. 

Democrats who voted for Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation are: Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Mark Warner, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. 

Chavez-DeRemer made headlines last month after reports surfaced that the cabinet nominee, who served as a Republican from Oregon’s 5th Congressional District in the 118th Congress, once worked at Planned Parenthood. She assured members of the Senate’s Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee that “This brief, part-time job from over three decades [ago] has no bearing on my support for implementing President Trump’s pro-life agenda.” 

“During my time in the House I had a 100 percent pro-life voting record,” she stressed. “I personally do not support abortion, and if confirmed, I would not use my position as secretary to facilitate abortion access in Labor Department programs. My job will be to implement President Trump’s agenda.”

The group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America gave Chavez-DeRemer a grade of “B” on its National Pro-Life Scorecard, explaining that, “While Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer’s voting record is pro-life, disappointingly, she has also publicly opposed passage of bills that would permanently stop taxpayer funding of abortion across the federal government and stop the Biden-Harris administration’s dangerous and illegal mail-order abortion drugs policy.” 

Nearly two months into his presidency, the Senate has confirmed 25 of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Other nominees approved by the Senate include former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to serve in their respective roles as secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of National Intelligence, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Other officials confirmed to the Trump cabinet include: Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Turner, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler. 

Besides Chavez-DeRemer, the most recent additions to the Trump cabinet are FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar. 

Several of Trump’s cabinet nominees still await Senate confirmation, including U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See nominee Brian Burch and National Institutes of Health Director nominee Jay Bhattacharya. Others who have yet to be confirmed by the Senate include U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations hopeful Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dave Weldon.