Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick Gets Hearing Date

Feb. 10--WASHINGTON -- After weeks of delays, a Senate panel is scheduled to question President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, next week.

Puzder, a fast food executive and former St. Louis attorney who graduated from Washington University, will face senators at a time when the upper chamber is taking its time with many of Trump's Cabinet picks. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Trump to withdraw the nomination over Puzder's business record.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she was still studying Puzder's record "but boy, there's a lot of red flags."

Paperwork rather than obstructionism has delayed Puzder's confirmation hearing at least three times. It is now scheduled for Thursday. Trump tapped Puzder two months ago, and the Republican chairman of the committee vetting him said a hearing would wait until Puzder finished his ethics paperwork.

Those filings include how he would avoid conflicts of interest with his company, CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr.

Other Cabinet picks, such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, faced blistering opposition campaigns before squeezing through the Senate on mostly party-line votes.

Now that Puzder is moving into the spotlight, his team expects the heat to build.

"The Democrats and their special interests -- and particularly the unions -- have taken their smear tactics to a new level of ugly," Puzder spokesman George Thompson said in an email. He pointed to Puzder's business experience as the right background for a job-creating Department of Labor secretary: "He understands how the right policies can spur economic growth and bring more opportunity for all Americans."

A Washington-based nonprofit has already asked a St. Louis court http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/hearing-for-labor-secretary-nominee-delayed-group-sues-to-open/article_aa40d6f1-c813-5d3a-8f99-6f9252b8cecc.html%E2%80%9D" href="%E2%80%9Dhttp:/www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/hearing-for-labor-secretary-nominee-delayed-group-sues-to-open/article_aa40d6f1-c813-5d3a-8f99-6f9252b8cecc.html%E2%80%9D">to unseal Puzder's divorce records, saying they could shed light on domestic assault allegations from his now-ex wife. (She has since said Puzder never abused her.) A hearing on that case is set for Valentine's Day.

McCaskill said her concerns stemmed from Puzder's positions rather than any "personal issues." She pointed to his employment of a http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/labor-secretary-nominee-once-hired-undocumented-immigrant/article_b88790bc-721d-5c1e-8ec8-0ac4ad440c1c.html%E2%80%9D" href="%E2%80%9Dhttp:/www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/labor-secretary-nominee-once-hired-undocumented-immigrant/article_b88790bc-721d-5c1e-8ec8-0ac4ad440c1c.html%E2%80%9D">housekeeper who was an undocumented immigrant and his positions on low-wage workers and automation of jobs, saying "this doesn't sound like somebody who has my view of what the Department of Labor should be about."

"Secretary of labor, and you're http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/02/07/puzder-paid-taxes-on-undocumented-employee-after-labor-secretary-nomination.html%E2%80%9D" href="%E2%80%9Dhttp:/www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/02/07/puzder-paid-taxes-on-undocumented-employee-after-labor-secretary-nomination.html%E2%80%9D">not paying taxes on illegal immigrants working in your own home?" she said. "That's a problem."

Activists pushing for a $15 minimum wage are planning protests Monday outside Hardee's headquarters in St. Louis. Puzder has https://www.wsj.com/articles/andy-puzder-minimum-wage-maximum-politics-1412543682%E2%80%9D" href="%E2%80%9Dhttps:/www.wsj.com/articles/andy-puzder-minimum-wage-maximum-politics-1412543682%E2%80%9D">opposed raising the minimum wage, including President Barack Obama's proposed increase in the hourly rate to $10.10 from $7.25.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has called Puzder a "good friend and forward thinker" who would bring dynamic leadership to the Labor Department.

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