Andrew Puzder withdraws nomination for labor secretary.
Twelve GOP senators reportedly were withholding support
WASHINGTON — Andrew Puzder, President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next labor secretary, withdrew his nomination Wednesday amid growing resistance from Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.
“After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor,” Puzder said in a statement. “I am honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put America’s workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity.”
He continued: “I want (to) thank President Trump for his nomination. I also thank my family and my many supporters — employees, businesses, friends and people who have voiced their praise and hopeful optimism for the policies and new thinking I would have brought to America as Secretary of Labor. While I won’t be serving in the administration, I fully support the President and his highly qualified team.”
In the hours leading up to Puzder’s withdrawal, 12 Republican senators “at a minimum” were withholding support, according to one GOP senator, who asked for anonymity to avoid political retribution. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had told the White House that Puzder lacked the votes needed to win confirmation, according to a senior Senate aide.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee would have led the hearing, said Puzder had the experience and ability to serve as labor secretary. “I respect his decision. He understands the difficulties American workers face in a rapidly changing workforce, and I look forward to continuing to hear his insights.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the withdrawal “is a victory for the American worker.
Puzder should never have even been nominated to lead the Labor Department, and Senate Republicans clearly recognized this, too.” He called on Trump to nominate someone who “champions workers’ rights rather than suppresses them.”
Puzder, a restaurant executive and Trump campaign supporter, had attracted widespread criticism regarding his business record and personal background. Additionally, a prominent conservative publication announced its opposition to the pick on Wednesday, saying that Puzder’s support for more legal immigration is at odds with Trump’s position.
Puzder, the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, was set to appear before the HELP Committee for a long-delayed hearing amid a protracted review of his vast personal wealth, details of a rancorous divorce more than 25 years ago and revelations that his family once employed an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper.
Democrats on the panel who opposed Puzder were vowing to show racy images of bikini-clad models eating hamburgers who appeared in television commercials run by his restaurant chains. His supporters were planning to eat biscuits from Hardee’s — one of Puzder’s burger chains — for breakfast while tracking the hearing from a makeshift war room.