Trump’s first round of agency appointments marked by surprises, familiar names

It didn’t take long into the second Trump administration to get a glimpse of what the federal administrative agencies may look like, at least for the near future. Here’s what we’ve seen so far.

Secretary of labor

The biggest surprise at the Department of Labor (DOL) has been at the top. The president has nominated Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former congresswoman from Oregon, to be secretary of labor.

Chavez-DeRemer lost her bid for reelection to Congress back in November. The surprise stems from her support for union-friendly legislation and is punctuated by the full-throated endorsement by the Teamsters for her nomination. While in Congress, she was a co-sponsor of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would have made union organizing and collective bargaining easier for unions. Expect her confirmation to be bumpy.

While Chavez-DeRemer winds through the confirmation process, the acting secretary at the helm of the department will be Vince Micone. He has been in an administrative position with the DOL for the last two years and served in several other federal agencies beforehand.

Deputy secretary

Bringing back a blast from the past, the president appointed Keith Sonderling to serve as deputy secretary of labor.