Trump taps Keith Sonderling, a longtime ally of business, for Labor Secretary

President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he would nominate acting labor secretary Keith Sonderling, a business community ally, to lead the agency after months of turmoil under its previous leader.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that I am nominating Keith E. Sonderling, the outstanding Acting United States Secretary of Labor, to be permanent,” Trump posted on social media. “Throughout his career, Keith has proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country, and I know he will do an incredible job in his new role.”

Sonderling served as a deputy to Trump’s previous labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Trump had picked Chavez-DeRemer, in an unusual nod to the labor movement, following extensive lobbying from the Teamsters union.

But Chavez-DeRemer resigned from her position in April amid a flurry of professional misconduct allegations. The results of an investigation into her conduct by the agency’s inspector general not been released. But the probe involved allegations that she had misused funds and drank on the job. Her husband was banned from the agency’s headquarters following accusations of sexual misconduct from three female staffers.

The White House directed The Washington Post to Trump’s announcement on Truth Social in response to a question about Sonderling’s nomination to the position which requires Senate confirmation.

The business community was quick to celebrate his nomination.

“He obviously comes from the employer side of many issues but Keith has an ability to get things accomplished in a manner that brings diverse viewpoints together as opposed to taking them further apart,” said Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel at the CHRO Association, a trade group for human resources executives that represents major employers.

“He knows how to reach a middle ground without offending [anyone],” King said.

Under Trump, the department has moved to reverse or undo regulations. Last summer, the agency announced that it would slash more than 60 rules and regulations, in an effort to “put American workers first.” Those efforts included eliminating overtime and minimum wage protections for home health care workers and union organizing rights for migrant farm workers.

Earlier this month, Sonderling sent letters to the governors of all 50 states demanding that they take action to “to combat fraud, waste, and abuse” within the unemployment insurance system and threatening to withhold funds from states if they did not comply.

Sonderling is well-liked and popular among Republican policy circles in Washington and also in his home state Florida. But some business leaders who have been pleased with the agency’s direction under Sonderling had not expected him to be nominated permanently, because he lacks the name recognition of other high-profile Cabinet members.

A labor policy veteran, Sonderling served as a top Labor official during Trump’s first term before his appointment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Business leaders who lobbied for Sonderling said that he had been effectively directing policy and personnel decisions since last year while former Chavez-DeRemer spent much of her tenure as secretary on a 50-state tour.