Following reports that Senate Republicans have advised the Trump administration to withdraw Secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder’s nomination due to a lack of GOP support, Puzder has reportedly become the first of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees to do so; NBC News confirmed the expected withdrawal with a senior administration official. After a number of delays, Puzder’s confirmation hearing had been scheduled for Thursday.
In a statement, Puzder said he was “honored” to have been considered for the role and sent his support to the administration.
Puzder is the head of fast food empire CKE Restaurants. He opposes the minimum wage and has been critical of workplace regulations like mandatory rest breaks, he was accused on television by his ex-wife of abuse and threats—today, Politico surfaced footage of the explosive 1990 allegations, which the Oprah Winfrey Network had provided for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to review—and he is enthusiastic about automation, which could replace 45 percent of the jobs that humans perform. He was recently found to have employed an undocumented immigrant, which CNN notes has sunk multiple past nominations.
The influential conservative mag National Review opposed his nomination in a Wednesday editorial on the basis of… not any of that, but rather Puzder’s support for immigration reform. Sen. Collins (R-Maine) told Politico on Wednesday that “I’ve expressed my concerns about a number of issues,” while another woman GOP senator, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), was also reported to be on the fence. The Washington Post reports that Republicans were displaying a “notable level of skepticism” about Puzder’s nomination. A source told CNN that top Senate Republicans urged the White House to withdraw the nomination, citing at least four “no” votes from the GOP. Citing a source, CNN also reports that Puzder has been getting conflicting advice from the Trump administration on how to proceed, which would not be at all surprising!
After all that, Puzder is reportedly “very tired of the abuse,” which is incredibly unfortunate phrasing.
This is a breaking news post and has been updated.
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