President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, reversed herself at a confirmation hearing on Wednesday and told a critical GOP lawmaker that she no longer supports parts of a bill that could have led to the overturning of states’ right-to-work laws. Her flip-flop could be driven by the fact that Democrats — some of whom originally welcomed her nomination — now say they don’t want to hand Mr. Trump any wins while Elon Musk rifles through the executive branch. 

Ms. Chavez-DeRemer served for one term as a Republican congresswoman from Oregon before losing reelection in 2024. Shortly after her loss, Mr. Trump announced that she would be his nominee to lead the Department of Labor, and it became clear immediately that she would be one of the few to potentially face significant Republican opposition due to her support for a major labor reform bill that could have led to the overturning of states’ right-to-work laws and the elimination of the rights of 64 million independent contractors and freelancers across the country. 

The bill in question — the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, which was never passed by Congress — was opposed by nearly every Republican and a handful of moderate Democrats, though that didn’t stop Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, whose father was a member of the Teamsters union, from signing on. 

On Wednesday, Ms. Chavez-Deremer walked back her support for that legislation — something Senator Paul has been demanding. 

“The PRO Act wasn’t just about organizing or enabling unions to organize — which they already have the right to do. The PRO Act was about overturning right-to-work laws in 26 states — half of the country,” Mr. Paul said, who could sink Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee if he votes no. 

“I signed on to the PRO Act because I was representing Oregon’s Fifth District, but I also signed on to the PRO Act because I wanted to be at that table and have those conversations,” she said. “But I fully, fairly … support states who want to protect their right-to-work [laws.]”

“So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work laws?” Mr. Paul asked. 

“Yes, sir,” Ms. Chavez-DeRemer responded. 

Mr. Trump nominated her to lead the labor department following an election that saw union households swing hard into the director of the GOP in 2024. The president lost households with at least one union member to Vice President Harris by eight points last year, an eight-point swing in his favor compared to the vote just four years earlier. 

The head of the Teamsters, Sean O’Brien effusively praised Mr. Trump’s selection of Ms. Chavez-DeRemer when the nomination was made, and even posted a photo of himself with the labor nominee and Mr. Trump. Mr. O’Brien was invited to speak at the Republican National Convention last summer, where he heaped praise on Senator Hawley and Vice President Vance. 

Mr. Trump has said that Ms. Chavez-DeRemer would help him “create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs.”

The nominee’s support for the PRO Act was one of the few reasons that Democrats seemed excited to back her on the Senate floor, though with that out the window now, she may have a hard time winning them over. 

What made it even worse for her chances to win over Democratic senators was that she defended Mr. Musk’s attempts to remake the executive branch unilaterally, which lawmakers have been strenuously objecting to and protesting for several weeks. 

“Will you commit to denying access to Elon Musk or any of his representatives to information about labor violations at OSHA, or any other information about labor violation investigations at the Department of Labor?” Senator Murphy asked, referring to the pending investigations of some of Mr. Musk’s companies, as well as at the companies of some of his competitors. 

“I have not been in these conversations, as I am not confirmed. I only see what has happened … on the news and so forth,” Ms. Chavez-DeRemer responded. “The president has the executive power to have his coalition of advisors and determine what’s best for the American people.”

“It seems like a pretty simple commitment to make, to say, ‘I am not going to give any private company exclusive access to information about open investigations against them or their competitors.’ Why can’t you just make that commitment?” the Connecticut senator asked again. 

“The president has the executive power to exercise it as he sees fit. I am not the president of the United States. I work for the president of the United States, if confirmed. I will serve at the pleasure of the president. On this issue, again, I have not been into the Department of Labor,” she responded.