We Need Answers

At this week's hearing for U.S. Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer, senators should ask these questions about independent contractors.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions will hold a confirmation hearing for Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is President Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. Labor Secretary.

Chavez-DeRemer is a controversial nominee for the Republican Party, which—to its credit—has stood squarely on the side of independent contractors.

In contrast to that position, Chavez-DeRemer, when she was a member of Congress, joined with the freelance-busting brigade to support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. That bill’s ABC Test regulatory language could devastate millions of independent contractors’ incomes and careers. Her nomination to run the U.S. Labor Department is backed by the Teamsters union, which has been one of the most relentless freelance-busting organizations in the country.

Since her nomination was announced, there has been little clarity about what the Trump-Vance administration’s policy on independent contractors is going to be, or what Chavez-DeRemer herself has to say about self-employment policymaking.

For that reason, senators on the HELP Committee need to ask this nominee tough questions this Wednesday, to make sure Chavez-DeRemer will not be a threat to the $1.3 trillion that self-employed Americans contribute to the U.S. economy.

Some Republicans have gone on the record stating that they will not advance her nomination because of her support for the PRO Act. On the other side of the aisle, it’s widely believed that at least some Democrats will help to push Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination through—quite the unusual political dynamic for President Trump’s cabinet nominees.

Unions that typically support the Democrats are pushing for Chavez-DeRemer to be confirmed, while organizations like the National Right to Work Committee, which often align with Republicans, are urging senators to vote no.

Notably, the National Association of Realtors—which has spent years now lobbying for state and federal legislation that will allow real-estate agents to remain independent contractors—just came out in support of Chavez-DeRemer, writing:

“[W]e look forward to working with Ms. Chavez-DeRemer on other key issues such as labor shortages throughout many sectors, including the skilled trades, homebuilding and construction industries which contribute to housing supply challenges; independent contractor matters, including workers’ ability to have autonomy and flexibility in how they work and are classified; expansion of labor opportunities for veterans, apprenticeship opportunities; pragmatic regulations; and innovation in the workforce.”

Personally, I still have questions. Here are six of them that I’d like senators to ask Chavez-DeRemer during Wednesday’s confirmation hearing.

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?