Labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer exits, while Patel sues over story citing sources that allege ‘conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences’ by FBI director
Donald Trump’s labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is stepping down, the administration announced on Monday, after a series of misconduct allegations, including claims of an affair with a subordinate and allegedly drinking on the job.
Chavez-DeRemer is the third cabinet member – all women – to depart during the president’s second term, following homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and attorney general Pam Bondi.
Chavez-DeRemer’s exit comes as she and close aides are currently under investigation by the department’s inspector general over allegations of professional misconduct. These include claims that Chavez-DeRemer had an affair with a member of her security detail, kept a “stash” of alcohol in her office and used government resources for personal travel, while her aides allegedly sought to channel grants towards politically connected figures, the New York Times reported in March.
The now former labor secretary isn’t the only Trump administration official having a rough April. The Atlantic on Friday published a story about Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, that included allegations of “excessive drinking” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” as FBI director.
Patel has denied the allegations and threatened to sue the magazine. On Monday he filed a defamation lawsuit in US district court seeking $250m in damages.
Democrats have capitalized on the news, saying the recent turnover in Trump’s cabinet is proof that his “administration is imploding”. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has also called for Patel’s immediate resignation.
“Americans deserve steady, SOBER leadership from their FBI Director,” Schumer wrote on X. “Every day he remains in office is a national security risk.”
FBI director Kash Patel has followed through on a threat to sue the Atlantic and the author of a story that included allegations of “excessive drinking” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” while in charge of the FBI.
Patel filed a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.
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“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, wrote on social media. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”
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The Trump administration has begun accepting applications from businesses seeking refunds for more than $166bn in tariffs, months after the supreme court ruled that the president had no legal authority to impose them.
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The $2bn (£1.5bn) a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday.
He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone ages, was very dangerous since it encourages every “wannabe autocrat” to use similar threats and tactics, including the destruction of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
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In a 10-minute video address, Canada’s prime minister spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen its economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries.
“The world is more dangerous and divided,” Carney said. “The US has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.
“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become weaknesses. Weaknesses that we must correct.”
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Donald Trump on Monday released a series of memos that doubled down on his support of increased domestic fossil fuel production for purported “defense readiness”. The memos, which cited the president’s 20 January 2025 executive order declaring a national energy emergency, said US-based oil, coal, and natural gas production must expand “to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability”.
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Emails released on Monday by California’s attorney general show Amazon allegedly colluding with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops and other products sold online.
Environmental groups have sued the Trump administration over its approval of BP’s huge new ultra-deep oil drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico, 16 years to the day since the company’s Deepwater Horizon disaster caused the worst oil spill in US history.
A US army sergeant with 27 years of military service – including deployment to Afghanistan – has said that federal immigration agents recently arrested his wife during an appointment at an El Paso, Texas, immigration office.
Apple announced on Monday that it had named a replacement for Tim Cook as CEO after nearly 15 years, with head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding him on 1 September. Cook will stay at the company in the role of executive chair.
Satirical website the Onion plans to turn rightwing commentator Alex Jones’s misinformation site Infowars into a parody of itself under a leasing agreement provisionally approved by a Texas court.
The US government has called on the defense contractor V2X to evacuate its employees from Kuwait and Iraq, warning the company that they could be targeted by Iran-backed militias, four sources said.