President Donald Trump’s pick for labor secretary Andrew Puzder has withdrawn from consideration for the position due to a lack of support from the Senate.
The CEO of CKE, which owns Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.’s restaurants, is reported to be “very tired of the abuse,” by Senate Democrats and recently some Republicans who point at his recent divorce, the use of scantily-clad women in Carls Jr.’s ads, his comments on the use of robots to replace workers and his hiring of an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.
As Democrats have voted on party lines against almost all of Trump’s nominees, Puzder was unlikely to receive a single vote from the left when four GOP senators announced that they would not commit to supporting him.
The GOP defectors – Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Tim Scott (SC) and Johnny Isakson (GA) – members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, would have on Thursday held the first confirmation hearing for Puzder.
Even if Puzder had made it out of committee, he would likely have failed to be confirmed by the senate with the four republican Senators either voting against or abstaining.
