Trump’s Labor nominee to withdraw: reports

by Lydia Wheeler - 02/15/17 2:31 PM ET

President Trump’s nominee to lead the Labor Department, Andy Puzder, is expected to withdraw his nomination, according to a number of reports Wednesday.

Fox News has learned that President Trump’s pick for labor secretary, Andy Puzder, is expected to withdraw his nomination.

— David Goodman (@davidgoodmanFBN) February 15, 2017

NBC News: Labor Secretary nominee Andy Puzder is expected to withdraw, sources tell @PeterAlexander

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 15, 2017

Puzder’s spokesperson said he does not have any information to share.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was scheduled to consider his nomination in a hearing that had previously been delayed five times.

{mosads}A committee spokesperson told The Hill they would “be in touch” on whether confirmation hearing will happen tomorrow.

The spokesperson said the panel still did not yet have the paperwork for Puzder’s confirmation hearing. Those documents usually arrive at the committee 24 hours before it’s slated to be held.

Top GOP members reportedly urged the White House to withdraw Puzder’s nomination, according to CNN.

Puzder, the CEO of the fast-food conglomerate that owns the burger chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has been under attack by Democrats and outside groups for weeks for admitting he hired an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper and allegations that he abused his ex-wife and treated employees poorly.

Oprah Winfrey’s network reportedly provided committee members with a copy of a 1990 episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in which Puzder’s ex-wife Lisa Fierstein reportedly appeared in disguise to speak out as a domestic violence victim.

She discussed allegations of physical abuse against her former husband in the show. Fierstein has since retracted her allegations, including in a recent letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Politico reported.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent Puzder a 28-page letter Monday with 83 questions on topics he was likely to face at his hearing.

Among her queries were how workers will be able to trust him to enforce laws fairly, whether he still believes it’s preferable to replace his workers with robots, and whether he would defend former President Obama’s rule expanding overtime pay in court given his public criticisms of the rule.

In a call with reporters, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who is now running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the reports of Puzder’s withdrawal were just another day of chaos in the Trump administration.

“Through this appointment, he’s shown he was trying to make it harder for workers to get ahead and stay ahead,” Perez said of President Trump.

“I’m pleased, but not optimistic the next pick with have any more moral authority given that the president has taken so many actions not to drain the swamp, but make sure the swamp full of his Wall Street cronies.”

National security adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday night amid revelations that he misled senior White House officials about his conversations with Russia.

Perez said Puzder, like Flynn, was not only incompetent but also dangerous.

“If I had half the transgressions of Andy Puzder, I never would have gotten through,” he said.

Peter Schroeder contributed to this report.

– Updated at 3:39 p.m.

Tags Elizabeth Warren