WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding information from Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer amid a sprawling internal investigation into the cabinet official’s alleged misuse of official travel and “inappropriate” relationship with a member of her security detail, The Post has learned.
The powerful Senate Judiciary Committee chairman wrote to Chavez-DeRemer Wednesday asking for a response to allegations that she used departmental trips to “travel for pleasure, while having the American taxpayer foot the bill,” Bloomberg first reported.
US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is under investigation by the IG. AP
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (yellow bikini), the US Secretary of Labor, arrives in Las Vegas for her daughter Annie DeRemer’s bachelorette party on October 24, 2025. New York PostGrassley also inquired about the secretary allegedly taking staff to an Oregon strip club shortly after she was confirmed by the Senate and pursuing the extramarital affair with one of her bodyguards.
Oversight of the Department of Labor is ordinarily conducted by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, though Grassley has been known to pursue inquiries related to abuse of taxpayer funds or personal misconduct outside the Judiciary panel’s immediate purview.
“I have dedicated my career to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, which includes government employees and senior officials in both Republican and Democratic administrations,” the 92-year-old wrote.
“Secretary Chavez-DeRemer is aware of Senator Grassley’s inquiry,” her personal attorney Nick Oberheiden said in a statement.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a yellow bikini on a lounge chair, with a woman in a black dress next to her. New York Post
The IG investigation has since uncovered additional evidence and received further complaints about Wright, Han, and Chavez-DeRemer. U.S. Department of Labor“Be assured that we are fully cooperating with his request. We emphasize that no findings have been made—and that a fair, procedurally sound audit will help resolve this matter.”
The IG investigation has since uncovered additional evidence and received further complaints about Chavez-DeRemer, 57, her chief of staff Jihun Han and Han’s deputy, Rebecca Wright, about which Grassley also inquired.
DeRemer allegedly took Jihun Han and Rebecca Write to a strip club. U.S. Department of LaborThose complaints included reports on the strip club visit and a “stash” of liquor that investigators uncovered in the secretary’s office — as well as allegations first reported by the New York Times that Han and Wright tried to direct grants to help Chavez-DeRemer’s political ambitions.
Han and Wright were placed on administrative leave days after The Post reported on the internal investigation — while the security man was also sidelined Jan. 16, according to sources.
The White House has publicly stood by Chavez-DeRemer, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Trump is “aware of the internal investigation, and he stands by the secretary, and he thinks that she’s doing a tremendous job at the Department of Labor on behalf of American workers.”
The labor secretary attended a public Cabinet meeting Thursday with the president and other administration officials, though she was not asked by Trump to speak with the media present.
Grassley, who asked for a response to his letter by Feb. 11, told Chavez-DeRemer that the accusations “if true, represent a serious breach of the public’s trust.”
Reps for Grassley and the DOL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
