Keith Sonderling should drain the swamp at the Labor Department

Published July 2, 2026 6:00am ET



President Donald Trump has nominated acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to be the next Secretary of Labor. Sonderling, a former Republican member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sonderling was formerly an attorney with Gunster, Yoakley, & Stewart, PA, West Palm Beach, Florida. If confirmed, Sonderling would replace the former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned amid lurid accusations of sex with a subordinate and drinking on the job, among others. 

The Labor Department has long been likened to a cesspool of corruption, especially its Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. OWCP administers the Labor Department’s Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which provides medical and other benefits, including salary replacement payments, to injured federal workers.

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