Kansas senator urges support for Trump labor secretary nominee | Opinion

There’s no question that America’s workforce has taken a beating – especially over the four years of the Biden-Harris Administration.

Our nation’s manufacturing base and workforce have been hollowed out by overregulation and labor policies that have failed to empower communities where these Americans live and raise families.

You can see it in wages stagnating despite major productivity increases over the past several decades. We can see it in Kansas, where more and more rural areas are shrinking.

It’s painfully evident workers – especially young adults – are leaving critical industries entirely. This widespread economic malaise was only made worse by former President Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies that caused inflation to skyrocket.

Thankfully, the Trump-Vance Administration is a champion for all hardworking Americans – union and non-union alike. That’s why I am proud to throw my support behind President Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Labor, former U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Chavez-DeRemer will be a bold disruptor. I have no doubt she will revolutionize the workforce and empower every American to achieve their dreams. She understands that workers from every industry and level deserve a seat at the table, and she will ensure their priorities, hard work, and voices are no longer ignored or cast aside.

With her strong background as a small business owner, she also knows that there are far too many burdensome regulations that stifle innovation and harm small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers. The American worker doesn’t need the government telling them how or where to work – they just need to be allowed to get to work.

In addition to her commitment to peeling back regulations, Chavez-DeRemer shares my view that we need to refocus America’s workforce pathways through increased flexibility in workforce Pell Grants.

Right now, students can only use Pell Grants for two- and four-year colleges and universities, limiting those who can only commit to short-term job training. This needs to change, and in Congress, we are doing just that with the bipartisan JOBS Act. I look forward to working with Chavez-DeRemer to turn this policy initiative into reality.

Chavez-DeRemer also knows we can further execute the America First workforce agenda by working alongside state and federal leaders to promote apprenticeships. These invaluable training programs have an incredible success rate. Data from ApprenticeshipUSA shows that 93% of apprentices end up with a job at the end of their program.

I stand ready to work with future Secretary of Labor Chavez-DeRemer to grow and expand access to apprenticeship grant and placement programs with legislative solutions in the Senate.

To her great credit, Chavez-DeRemer also recognizes that the single largest driver of education training in America is community colleges. Many Americans want to improve their skill sets, gain invaluable certifications, and stay in their communities where they have families and deep roots.

She agrees that we need to change how we think and talk about community college and expand access to and resources for these critically important schools. As someone who benefited from a community college myself, I deeply understand the importance of expanding access to them and shifting the messaging.

Winston Churchill once famously proclaimed, “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”

Chavez-DeRemer understands that practical, common-sense solutions and opportunities to restart the American engine are already all around us.

I have no doubt she will help the Trump-Vance Administration Make America Great Again, which is why I’m proud to support her nomination. I am calling upon my Senate colleagues to do the same and confirm her. It’s time to put American workers first.

This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM.