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Washington D.C. – Following Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation as U.S. Labor Secretary, government watchdog Accountable.US urged Chavez-DeRemer to take no advice or counsel from the at least five Trump nominees or officials tied to entities that allegedly perpetrated widespread forced labor or wage theft, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. Among the Labor Secretary’s key duties include enforcement of labor laws that protect workers rights’ involving unpaid wages, overtime, and minimum wage, as well as laws against child labor, forced labor and human trafficking.

“Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer will likely be put in compromising positions as President Trump continues to stack his administration with officials who’ve been tied to wage theft or forced labor allegations. Chavez-DeRemer should always put workers’ interests first, even if the President or his top aides are more sympathetic to corporations that seek maximum profit by cutting corners on wages and worker safety,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk.  

A new review from Accountable.US found that least five individuals nominated or confirmed to key positions in the Trump Administration have ties to entities known for profiting off of widespread forced labor or wage theft, including: 

  •     U.S. Chief Technology Officer nominee Michael Kratsios was Managing Director of Scale AI from 2021-2024. Scale AI, which helps companies refine data used to train AI language models, employs an army of low-wage workers in “digital sweatshops” throughout the developing world and has sparked alarms for “wage theft” and “widespread labor abuses.” 
  •     U.S. Ambassador to China nominee David Perdue is a former CEO who outsourced numerous jobs to low-wage factories in China in the 1990s and 2000s. As CEO of Dollar General, Perdue and his company also faced more than 2,000 wage theft lawsuits from low-wage employees who were allegedly classified as “managers” to dodge federal regulations mandating they be paid overtime rates while reportedly working more than 70 hours per week. 
  •     FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed that he consulted for the parent company of Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein, which has received bipartisan outrage for its use of fabrics produced with Uyghur forced labor in China’s Xinxiang Province. Patel also consulted for the Qatari government for an undisclosed duration of time.
  •     Attorney General Pam Bondi worked as a lobbyist for the Embassy of Qatar, ostensibly helping the country improve its public image and relationship with the U.S. as Qatar perpetrated high-profile and widespread abuses of migrant laborers employed to prepare the country to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 
  •     In 2024, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin consulted for Heritage Advisors, a Qatari investment firm connected to efforts to bribe former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in exchange for positive statements about Qatar.

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