Labor nominee Andrew Puzder expected to withdraw

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Andrew Puzder
Andrew Puzder

According to sources close to the White House, Donald Trumps‘ Department of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder is preparing to withdraw his nomination.

Puzder’s alleged decision comes in the wake of senior Senate Republicans asking the White House to rescind Puzder’s nomination after they determined there was not enough support to get him through the process.

Puzder needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence.

The CEO of the company that owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast food chains, Puzder’s nomination was dismantled by reports that he employed an undocumented immigrant and didn’t pay taxes on her compensation, that he apprenticed to a mob lawyer, and that his former wife alleged that he abused her, though she later recanted the claim.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer echoed the criticisms against the nominee with a public statement Wednesday afternoon.
“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,” the New York Democrat said. “He does not belong anywhere near the Labor Department, let alone at the head of it. Puzder’s disdain for the American worker, the very people he would be responsible for protecting, is second to none.”
“President Trump should immediately withdraw this nomination and nominate a champion of worker’s rights.”

Alabama Today could not reach a Puzder spokesman for comment.