Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, HOUSE NEWS—Education & Workforce Committee holds hearing on plans to address skills gap, protect workers, (Jun 9, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

Chavez-DeRemer shared that she has plans and intentions to better protect and support workers.

The House Committee on Education & Workforce, in a June 5, 2025, hearing with Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, delved into employer-sponsored health care, apprenticeship programs, and artificial intelligence (AI), with committee Republicans highlighting the work done in collaboration with the Trump administration to address the skills gap. Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) emphasized the administration’s plans to “ensure that fewer—but more effective—regulations protect workers without compromising business potential.”

Opening statements. In his statement, Walberg noted the difference between what he described as the “Biden-Harris administration’s war on independent contractors,” which he said “stifled innovation and creativity, ultimately harming workers, businesses, and the U.S. economy,” and the Trump administration’s efforts to halt “the job-killing and inflation-driving regulatory blitz.” Walberg noted that President Trump ordered a review of all pending regulations and signed an executive order directing federal agencies to eliminate ten existing regulations for each new regulation issued.”

Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) highlighted actions by the Trump administration that he believes jeopardize jobs, endanger the rights and protections of workers, and undermine the financial security of retirees. Specifically, he cited, among other actions, the rescinding of the executive order that has protected federal contract workers and job applicants from discrimination, the rescinding of an executive order raising wages for federal contractors, and the termination of grants combatting child labor and promoting workers’ rights. Scott also took issue with the firing of important officials from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as targeted hits to the collective bargaining rights of more than one million federal workers. Finally, Scott argued that the Department of Labor’s proposed budget would cut $4.5 billion in discretionary funding, a 33.1 percent reduction in funding relative to the FY 2025 enacted level.

Responses by Chavez-DeRemer. In response to questions from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) regarding the protection of farmers depending on visas for the harvest season, Chavez-DeRemer described the current system as “unsustainable” and committed to working with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to address such protections. Chavez-DeRemer, in response to a request from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) for an update on recovering more than $127 million taxpayer dollars used to fund pensions for people who have died, argued that the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) failed to implement necessary safeguards to ensure multiemployer pension plans were safeguarded. Additionally, Rep. James Moylan (R-GU) highlighted the unique needs of his constituency in Guam and their workforce, asking what strategies the DOL plans to pursue to ensure remote and underserved communities like Guam are equipped with skills necessary to participate in the U.S.’s growing tech economy. Chavez-DeRemer, in response, highlighted the Trump administration’s strong support for expanding apprenticeship programs.

Chavez-DeRemer in an exchange with Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) highlighted her goal to empower the U.S. workforce, stating that she “want[s] to be an ally for the American worker and the American business.” Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) expressed the need to protect employer-sponsored health care plans, and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) asked about the increasing use of AI by employers, to which Chavez-DeRemer expressed her intention to work with Congress to develop policies to protect American workers.

Statement by NWLC and NPWF. In a written statement, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) expressed their concerns about the DOL’s proposed policies and priorities, which they called “devastating” to women workers and their families. Specifically, the organizations cited actions by the DOL eliminating worker protections, reducing equal employment opportunities, attacking key civil rights protections, inhibiting worker power, and reinforcing “occupational segregation to the detriment of women, workers of color, LGBTQI+ workers, workers with disabilities, and all workers throughout the country.” The organizations stated, “The situation facing America’s workers is alarming.”

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