Happy Birthday Darlin’

I discussed the evolution of former Oregon congresswoman and now Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer a couple of weeks ago. She’s amazing, just leaning all in. The New Republic has looked deeper. It’s fun times in Washington!

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is under investigation after having been caught using taxpayer funds for personal reasons, including to throw herself a birthday party.

Last year, shortly after Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in, she and her senior staff wanted to have a birthday party at the Department of Labor’s headquarters at the Frances Perkins Building, The New York Times reports. But when staff worried about using the department’s funding, DeRemer and her staff decided to call it a swearing-in celebration.

The party went ahead with dozens of political staffers as guests, who sang “Happy Birthday” to Chavez-DeRemer, who then blew out the candles on a birthday cake. After the party, her chief of staff, Jihun Han, sent a memo to the entire department threatening “serious legal consequences” against any staffers who spoke with the press.

Weeks afterward, Chavez-DeRemer told the House Appropriations Committee, “I did not have a birthday party.” Ultimately, though, the Times obtained a photo from a party guest showing Chavez-DeRemer blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

The party is just one glaring example of alleged misconduct by Chavez-DeRemer. She is now under investigation by the department’s inspector general, former Republican Representative Anthony D’Esposito, for misusing department funds, including to travel around the country on personal trips, and other misconduct, such as an alleged affair with someone on her security team.

We truly do live in the New Gilded Age, where our elites simply do not give a fuck what it looks like.