Labor secretary’s chief and deputy placed on leave as watchdog probes complaint

The Labor Department placed Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff, Jihun Han, and deputy chief of staff, Rebecca Wright, on administrative leave on Monday as the department’s watchdog began investigating a complaint alleging professional misconduct by the secretary, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The personnel moves followed a report in The New York Post that said a formal complaint had been filed with the department’s inspector general accusing Ms. Chavez-DeRemer of abusing her office and of having an affair with a subordinate. The Post named Mr. Han and Ms. Wright in the complaint, and Politico reported the aides were sidelined earlier on Monday.

According to The Post, the complaint accused Ms. Chavez-DeRemer of committing “travel fraud” by having Mr. Han and Ms. Wright create trips where she could spend personal time with friends and family, and accused her of an “inappropriate” relationship with a subordinate; the report said the two aides knew about the conduct.

The Post also said Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, who is married, employed both aides when she served in Congress representing Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District from 2023 to 2025. Mr. Han and Ms. Wright could not be reached for comment, the article said. A spokeswoman for the Labor Department’s inspector general’s office said it is the office’s policy “to neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of any O.I.G.

Key Topics

Politics, Lori Chavez-deremer, Jihun Han, Rebecca Wright, Labor Oig, Travel Fraud