Trump Taps Sonderling for No. 2 Spot at Labor Department (1)

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Keith Sonderling, a former Republican commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to serve as the number two at the US Department of Labor.

“Keith will work with our great Nominee for Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-Deremer, to put our Country and Workers FIRST,” Trump said when announcing the pick via Truth Social on Tuesday evening.

If confirmed as Deputy Labor Secretary, Sonderling would be tasked with overseeing the DOL’s nearly 15,000 employees and the agency’s day to day operations.

He would also have a hand in implementing the administration’s labor agenda, which so far is expected to focus on slashing regulations and expanding job training programs at the DOL. Deputy secretaries at the DOL have approached the role in many different ways, some wielding stronger influence over policy decisions depending on their professional background.

The former EEOC commissioner would report to Chavez-DeRemer, the former Oregon Republican congresswoman nominated to lead the agency, who still faces Senate confirmation. Sonderling’s business background may bring some relief to the management-side community, who has so far largely kept its pen dry on Chavez-DeRemer due to her past support for legislation that would broadly expand workers’ rights under federal labor law.

“He is deeply respected in the labor community and will hit the ground running immediately to help Lori Chavez-DeRemer implement Trump’s agenda at DOL,” said Jonathan Slemrod, a lobbyist with Harbinger Strategies who frequently works on labor issues. “He is battle-tested from his time at Wage & Hour and EEOC, experience that will be invaluable to Trump given the big fights ahead.”

Sonderling, who was most recently at the EEOC, also previously served as acting administrator and later deputy administrator of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division from 2019 to the end of Trump’s first term. He stepped down from the EEOC in July 2024 when his term expired, leaving the commission with another Republican spot for Trump to fill.

Sonderling’s time at the EEOC was marked by his interest in the commission’s growing work on artificial intelligence. The Biden administration released a series of guidance documents outlining best practices and legal risks employers should consider from the technology, which may be addressed by the incoming Trump administration.

Sonderling expanded the commission’s outreach on AI and advocated for the EEOC to put more guidance on the use of the technology that is creating novel risks around discrimination in employment law.

He also voted alongside Republican Commissioner Andrea Lucas in party-line 3-2 votes against Democrats on several key policies, including the harassment guidance that advised employers against misgendering employees and the final rules under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

The PWFA rules, which require employers to accommodate for pregnant workers, drew backlash from conservatives over the inclusion of abortion as as a related medical condition