Trump fills Cabinet with lawmakers who voted against the interests of working families

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned this year on promises to help working families and lower consumer costs. The current and former members of Congress he has announced for his upcoming administration have, however, consistently voted against pro-labor and pro-consumer measures.

“I will protect our WORKERS. I will protect our JOBS,” Trump posted on social media in October. “I will protect our BORDERS. I will protect our FAMILIES—and I will protect the BIRTHRIGHT of our CHILDREN to live in the RICHEST and most POWERFUL NATION on the face of the EARTH!”

Several of those Trump has selected for his Cabinet and other top-ranking administration roles have served in Congress. With the exception of his pick for director of national intelligence, former Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 after a failed presidential bid, all of them voted against the interests of working people most of the time, according to a scorecard issued by the AFL-CIO for votes through 2023. The union organization scores lawmakers based on their votes “on issues important to working families, including strengthening Social Security and Medicare, freedom to join a union, improving workplace safety and more.” 

They include:

• Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor
  The one-term lawmaker, who lost reelection in November, has voted with the labor movement 10% of the time. 

• Former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins for secretary of veterans affairs
  In four terms in Congress, between 2013 and 2021, Collins voted with the labor movement 13% of the time.
  
• Former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for secretary of transportation
  In nearly four terms in Congress, between 2011 and 2019, the Fox News personality voted with the labor movement 20% of the time.
  
• Former South Dakota Rep. Kristi Noem for secretary of homeland security
  Prior to becoming South Dakota’s governor, Noem served four terms in the House between 2011 and 2019, where she voted with the labor movement 8% of the time.
  
• Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state
  Rubio, who was reelected to a third six-year Senate term in 2022, has voted with the labor movement 11% of the time.
  
• New York Rep. Elise Stefanik for ambassador to the United Nations
  Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference and who was reelected in November to a sixth two-year term, has voted with the labor movement 34% of the time. A one-time moderate, her annual scores dropped to 10% and under after she joined the GOP leadership in 2021.
  
• Florida Rep. Michael Waltz for national security adviser
  Waltz, who was reelected to a fourth two-year House term in November, has voted with the labor movement 16% of the time.
  
• Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator
  In four terms in the U.S. House, between 2015 and 2023, Zeldin voted with the labor movement 30% of the time. 

Trump’s initial pick for attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, had a lifetime AFL-CIO score of 15% in nearly four terms in the House, between 2017 and 2024. Amid allegations of ethical and sexual misconduct, Gaetz withdrew from consideration on Nov. 21.

All of the lawmakers serving at the time voted against President Joe Biden’s bipartisan 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which authorized hundreds of billions of dollars for transportation, water systems, high-speed internet, and electrical grid infrastructure across the country and included protections for labor standards. They also unanimously opposed the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which capped out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare Part D recipients and authorized the program to negotiate the prices of common medications with pharmaceutical companies. 

Collins, Duffy, Noem, Rubio, Stefanik, and Zeldin all voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, a move that would have increased the number of Americans with no health insurance coverage by 23 million.

Not a single member of the current Congress selected by Trump co-sponsored Senate or House bills to exempt cash tips from federal income taxes, a major Trump campaign pledge to millions of service industry workers.