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Labor and Pensions Committee for his confirmation hearing Thursday.
Democrats celebrated the news — even as the Trump administration signaled it already has several candidates on deck.
“I am glad Mr. Puzder will withdraw his name from consideration to be the next labor secretary,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “He was not fit to lead a department responsible for defending workers’ rights.”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also hailed it as “great news,” adding that the fast-food honcho “violated labor law, disrespected workers, opposed a living wage and used his position of authority to enrich himself at the expense of working people.”
He also noted that Trump “made a lot of promises on the campaign trail” about supporting working people.
“It’s time to start turning those promises into action,” Trumka said.
Puzder did himself no favors with his refusal to fully complete vetting documents about his finances and investments and submit them to the Senate committee prior to his confirmation hearing.
He also admitted last week to hiring an undocumented woman to work as his housekeeper.
Four names were floated by Bloomberg News as possible Puzder replacements: Alexander Acosta, a former National Labor Relations Board member; Peter Kirsanow, a Cleveland lawyer who met with Trump in November to talk labor issues and who would be his second AfricanAmerican cabinet pick; Catherine Templeton, a lawyer who was in the running originally against Puzder, and Joseph Guzman, a labor relations professor who would be Trump’s first Hispanic cabinet member.