The GigReporter

President Donald J. Trump is nominating acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to become the agencies’ next leader. The nomination follows a tumultuous at best performance by union friendly Lori Chavez-Demeur, who resigned after accusations of impropriety during her 50-state tour to reach out to the American labor force, as well as alleged drinking alcohol in her Agency office.

Keith Sonderling earned the trust of POTUS in his role as Deputy Secretary while Chavez-Ramirez traveled the country for the year with DOL staffers. Sonderling’s qualifications and experience also speaks for itself, as an attorney with labor experience in private practice and with previous administrative roles in the Wage and Hour Division, Office of Government Ethics and with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, undoubtedly putting the Agency in more experienced hands with a better chance of achieving its workable agenda, policy and regulatory action to adequately support America’s labor force.    

            The DOL Agenda is focused on cutting regulatory tape, slashing outdated rules, and reducing compliance burdens on employers to spur job creation and economic growth. This regulatory strategy centers on flexibility, transparency, and common-sense reform to support businesses while protecting workers.[1] The most important and adversarial work will be to support the exponential growth in the gig economy, involving independent contractor & joint employer classification: revising worker classification rules to remove the stricter, six-prong economic realities test, providing employers with greater certainty and flexibility to put “American Workers First, Business First…”. [2]

            Such necessary and thoughtfully progressive DOL policy will continue to be paramount to the Last Mile Delivery industry, fully supported by SCI’s first-in-class array of administrative services and business insurance product offerings which place your logistics business in a leading position at the forefront of competition.

[1] US Department of Labor unveils proposals to put American workers, businesses first in release of semiannual regulatory agenda. http://www.dol.gov/newsroom

[2] Employment Law Update: U.S. Department of Labor Unveils Its Regulatory Agenda, Date: September 5, 2025, By: Randi K. Hyatt