During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) questioned Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the Department of Labor's closure of an investigation into alleged racial abuse at a Tesla facility in Fremont.
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00:00Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good to see you, Madam Secretary. Thank you very much for
00:06being here. When we had a chance to talk during your confirmation hearing, you know, I raised
00:13a worry that I think reflects what many Americans are talking about today, the access that, you know,
00:21a handful of very powerful people have to the President, to the White House,
00:25and to this administration. It feels like, you know, if you're powerful, if you have connections
00:32to the President, you can get some special deals. And in particular, a lot of folks in this country,
00:40you know, have been very concerned about what Elon Musk's agenda has been. What is he getting?
00:48And it seems over and over again that the cuts that are happening throughout the government are
00:53specifically advantaging Elon Musk and his companies. And so I want to ask you about a
00:59office that has essentially been eliminated under your watch and ask you to explain to us
01:07what the story is here. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is a really important
01:16office that has been supported by Republican and Democratic presidents. In fact, President Trump,
01:21during his first term, talked pretty glowingly about the success it had had in cracking down on
01:26the abuse of workers, in particular, discrimination against workers. You have effectively eliminated
01:34this office. You have reduced its employee count from 480 to 50. That's a 90% reduction. There were 55
01:43offices protecting workers all across the country. There are now four. The office in Hartford,
01:49Connecticut has been closed. All of this is likely illegal because we have appropriated money for
01:55this agency and its functions. You are not allowed to just eliminate appropriations that have been
02:02mandated by Congress. But of course, it's had a real impact on workers. Workers no longer have this
02:09agency representing them. And in particular, this seems like it worked out very well for Elon Musk
02:15because there was an open investigation against one of his facilities in Fremont. And I can't even
02:26actually say out loud the words connected to this allegation because black employees at this Tesla
02:37facility were allegedly subject to routine racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility.
02:45The epithets range from the N-word to monkey to boy to other insults I can't say in this committee.
02:56And there was an open investigation relative to the abuse of black employees at this facility.
03:03That investigation is now closed. That seems like a really convenient win for Elon Musk.
03:11And so tell us what's going on here. How do you justify the cloture of an agency that was supporting
03:21workers, protecting workers? And I'd love to know if you had had any conversations with Elon Musk or his
03:32representatives who were in your agency on behalf of Doge relative to the cloture of this specific agency.
03:39Thank you, Senator. Well, first and foremost, our nation's non-discrimination laws continue to be fully enforced at the Department of Labor and anywhere else.
03:51On top of that, as you know, I will not be able to discuss this because it is under litigation now. So I cannot go into any other comments in regards to that. And that would be true for many things that the Department of Labor is being sued for. I cannot discuss.
04:07Well, you can certainly discuss with this committee why you eliminated the agency.
04:14I mean, this is a legitimate matter for the Appropriations Committee. You can tell us why you eliminated the agency and you can certainly answer a question as to whether you had any conversations with Elon Musk about the elimination of this agency, which was actively investigating one of his facilities.
04:33I have. I cannot discuss it as it is in litigation. I have had Elon Musk. It's no special treatment from the Department of Labor or from me.
04:41Is it true that that investigation into his facility? Again, these are really outrageous allegations.
04:47I have no reference to even that case. I have no conversation.
04:54But you can confirm that it was closed.
04:56I don't even know about that specific case. I would not be able to comment on that.
05:00All right. Can you answer that question to the committee? Can you answer that for the record?
05:07I mean, if you don't know now, can you get the answer to that as to whether that specific investigation in the racial abuse at the Tesla facility was closed?
05:17As it relates to OFCCP, I cannot comment because it is in litigation. I know nothing about that case.
05:22Well, you can certainly tell this committee whether investigations are open or closed.
05:28I'm not asking you to do it now. You say you don't know.
05:30I'll consult with my team and my legal team and get back to you on that.
05:34Well, Madam Chair, there is a lot of litigation pending.
05:38That's right.
05:38We should not shut down the oversight role of this committee to get information as to why key oversight agencies have been closed
05:49or information regarding open investigations.
05:53So I look forward to working with the chairman and the ranking member and you to make sure that litigation doesn't get used as an excuse to try to paper over
06:00what may be some pretty substantial problems and potentially undue influence by Trump's billionaire friends at the Department of Labor.
06:07That is not the case.
06:08And non-discrimination laws are fully enforced 100% at the Department of Labor and will continue to be.
06:15And I look forward to working with you as well, Senator.
06:17Thank you, Madam Chair.