The Labor Secretary is gone. Is fire and brimstone next?

Well, that happened.

Late Monday, reports broke that embattled Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was resigning. Her departure happens close to the end of an Inspector General investigation that has included allegations of fabricated trips, inappropriate relationships with subordinates, drinking on the job, improperly influencing grants, and a bunch of other things that you don't need me to tell you to understand this was a big mess.

Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling will act in her place, which is a loaded statement given reporting that he has been acting in her place in managing the Department of Labor. He thanked her for the work done “under [her] reign” on social media on Monday night.

An embarrassing IG report is still coming (one presumes), but for now this caps what is internally regarded as one of the darker and weirder eras of the Department of Labor—and one largely unforeseen given Chavez-DeRemer’s reputation coming into the job.

The switch could signal big shifts in how the Trump Administration steers workforce funding and policy—and education funding and policy, given that DOL now runs a big chunk of the Education Department’s programs. Chavez-DeRemer’s job status had made the Administration’s goals seem more precarious to DOL constituencies in recent weeks. Depending on who Trump picks to replace her, those goals could change dramatically.

Below, I sketch out what might be next as well as the big questions in my head about Trump II jobs policies now that there will be a different face selling them.