Puzder to withdraw labor secretary nomination, as Team Trump fails and flails

Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary is reported to be withdrawing his name from consideration.

Andrew Puzder fell out of favor over the course of this No Good Horrible Very Bad Week for the Trump administration, over growing GOP concerns the fast food executive couldn’t earn enough votes to get confirmed.

CNN reports some GOP senators had just enough decency left to be slightly perturbed by a tape of Puzder’s former wife telling Oprah Winfrey on television in 1990 that her husband abused her. Democrats who opposed Puzder would almost certainly use such material to block confirmation, as they should.

“Furthermore, lawmakers saw a growing liability in the fast-food executive’s history of employing an undocumented immigrant in his household for years and not paying taxes until much later, reports Daily Beast.

More at Reuters:

Puzder is chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, which primarily franchises fast-food chains including Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.

The progressive left is actively campaigning against Puzder amid concerns about his views on overtime and the minimum wage and claims by some CKE workers who say they are victims of wage theft or victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

In recent weeks other issues have surfaced that could make some Republicans uncomfortable.

Earlier this month, Puzder admitted he and his wife had employed an undocumented person as a housekeeper and had to pay back taxes as a result.

On Wednesday, conservative magazine National Review published an op-ed that urged the Senate to vote against Puzder because of his support for guest worker visa programs and other policies that it claims undercut American workers in favor of foreign ones.

When you’ve lost the National Review… you’re toast.