Politics

BREAKING: Andy Puzder Withdraws As Labor Secretary Nominee

REUTERS/Mike Segar

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Ted Goodman Contributor
Font Size:

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor, CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder, withdrew his name from consideration Wednesday.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Puzder said that he was “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.” His Senate hearing was scheduled for the next day.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed the White House that Puzder lacked the votes necessary for confirmation, effectively ending any effort to save his nomination.

Following news of his withdrawal, Senate Democrats and representatives took to Twitter, heralding it as a major victory.

Puzder was the focus of an intense campaign by union-backed protesters, Fight for $15 activists and Democrat senators to block his nomination.

He was criticized after admitting to hiring an illegal immigrant housekeeper with his wife. “My wife and I employed a housekeeper for a few years, during which I was unaware that she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S.,” Puzder explained, following the accusations.

The now former-nominee faced intense criticism after Oprah Winfrey released a video from her show in 1990, where a woman described alleged abuse by Puzder and its impact on her life.

“I wound up losing everything, everything,” Lisa Fierstein said on the March 1990 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show. Fierstein described in detail how he allegedly assaulted and battered her by striking her “violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders and neck.”

Fierstein has since retracted her allegations, saying that she only said what she said at the advice of her attorneys. She called Puzder, “one of the finest men I have ever known.”

CKE Restaurants owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. brands. He has been a vocal critic of then-President Barack Obama’s labor policies and the Fight for $15. (RELATED: Trump To Nominate ‘Fight For $15’ Critic For Labor Sec.)

Follow Ted on Twitter

Send Tips to ted@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.