Politico: “Spotted at the White House recently: Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s first pick for labor secretary, who dropped out of the confirmation process in February amid allegations of domestic abuse.”
Now, the White House is considering Puzder for a yet-to-be-determined slot in the administration… t’s not clear what role Puzder might take, these people said, though it would have to be a non-Senate-confirmed slot given his withdrawal as labor secretary.”
Andrew Puzder blamed “a tsunami of fake news” and a campaign by Democrats and the left for ending his nomination for Labor secretary, Politico reports.
Said Puzder: “The left is trying to sink as many of the president’s nominees as possible. So in that sense, it really wouldn’t have mattered what I believed or who I was or what the process was. They were going to campaign against me as a means of hurting the president.”
James Hohmann: “Trump’s decision to not release a statement about Puzder’s withdrawal says a lot about his leadership style. He always wants to wash his hands of things that reflect poorly on him. He didn’t even tweet out well wishes. He just pretended like it didn’t happen.”
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“Top Senate Republicans have urged the White House to withdraw the Andrew Puzder nomination for labor secretary, a senior GOP source said, adding there are four firm Republican no votes and possibly up to 12,” CNN reports.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fanned the flames: “No matter how you cut it, there is no worse pick for Labor Secretary than Andrew Puzder, and I’m encouraged my Republican colleagues are starting to agree.”
Fox News reports the White House will withdraw Puzder’s name.
“The ex-wife of President Donald Trump’s labor secretary nominee told “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that he “vowed revenge” when she made public spousal abuse allegations, according to a 1990 tape reviewed by Politico on Tuesday night.”
“Andrew Puzder’s hearing for labor secretary is Thursday, but the allegations of domestic abuse, which he’s repeatedly denied, and his admission that he employed an illegal immigrant have put his confirmation in jeopardy. The details of the Oprah tape, which haven’t been made public until now, could further erode his support in the Senate, where four Republicans have expressed reservations about his nomination. No Democrats are expected to support him.”
Four Republican senators have told their leadership they are withholding support for Andrew Puzder, President Trump’s choice for labor secretary, “setting off an intense effort by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and business groups to bring at least two back into the fold so that the nomination does not fail,” CNN reports.
The four, sources say, are Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA).
President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, has in the past said that up to 40% of his employees were in the country illegally, CNN reports.
“The CKE restaurants executive made the comments… while speaking about how the E-Verify system–a database that enables businesses to check the citizenship status of their prospective employees–made it easier for his company to comply with the law.”
“Andrew Puzder, who as President Trump’s pick to head the Labor Department has come under fire for criticizing worker protections, acknowledged on Monday that he had employed an undocumented immigrant to clean his house,” the New York Times reports.
“The revelation potentially could derail a nomination that has elicited controversy because of Mr. Puzder’s views on overtime pay, sick leave and automation. The confirmation of Mr. Puzder, a fast-food chain executive, has stalled as he tries to divest holdings.”
“It’s not like if you run a fast food company you’re hiring graduates of MIT or people that were gonna go work for Microsoft, you know. In the employment pool, you’re hiring the best of the worst. You know, it’s kind of the bottom of the pool. And at Hardee’s it was so bad, we were hiring the worst of the worst and hoping they would stay.”
— Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder, quoted by CNN in 2011 speech.
“The ex-wife of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, appeared in disguise on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ as a victim of domestic violence, after having accused him multiple times of physically assaulting her in the 1980s,” Politico reports.
“Additionally, a 1988 petition… from the Circuit Court of St. Louis County provides previously unreported details of the alleged abuse: Puzder’s ex-wife, Lisa Fierstein, accused him of having ‘assaulted and battered [her] by striking her violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders, and neck, without provocation or cause,’ and that as a consequence she ‘suffered severe and permanent injuries.'”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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