THE drumpf/trump-pence administration has a new nominee to head the US Labor Dept now that andrew puzder was forced to withdraw, not because the White House had a problem with his lack of morals and ethics but but because there were even some republicans in the senate who did. The votes just weren't there for puzder to be confirmed. It is doubtful r alexander acosta is any better, just consider who picked him! From +NPR .....
Trump Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder Withdraws, First Cabinet Pick To Fall
February 15, 2017 3:25 PM ET
Updated at 4:15 p.m. ET
Fast-food executive Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination to head the Labor Department on Wednesday as his support on Capitol Hill faltered. Facing criticism from both sides of the aisle, Puzder became the first Trump Cabinet pick whose nomination failed.
Puzder put out a statement on Wednesday:
Ahead of his scheduled confirmation hearing on Thursday, which had been delayed several times, it became less clear Puzder had support from his own party, facing pressure to withdraw. Several Republican senators, including Maine's Susan Collins, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Georgia's Johnny Isakson and South Carolina's Tim Scott, signaled trouble by saying they were undecided on Puzder.
In a statement responding to Puzder's withdrawal, Scott said, "As revelations regarding paying employees in cash, illegal immigration, and comments regarding some of the American workforce came to light, I developed serious concerns regarding his nomination." Scott said he informed Senate GOP leadership about his reluctance to support Puzder.
Puzder has faced a range of criticisms, from his record running the Hardee's and Carl's Jr.'s fast-food chains to old allegations — since retracted — of domestic abuse made by his ex-wife. More recently, Puzder disclosed he employed a housekeeper who was not in the country legally. Labor unions, which had planned to protest his nomination outside the Senate offices where the hearing was to be held, have argued a Puzder-led Labor Department would undermine their efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, expand the eligibility for overtime pay and enforce wage and hour violations, among other things.
Puzder, a corporate attorney by training, was first a lawyer for CKE Restaurants, which operates Hardee's, Carl's Jr., Green Burrito and Red Burrito restaurants. He helped founder Carl Karcher settle an insider trading case with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Then, after the chain fell into financial trouble following its acquisition of Hardee's in the late 1990s, Puzder helped turn the company around and in 2000 was named CEO.
As CEO, and later as a Trump campaign adviser, Puzder has been outspoken about his views on labor policy, contributing to newspaper opinion pages and on television, discussing issues such as immigration. During the Republican presidential primaries, Puzder advocated creating a path to legal status for unauthorized workers living in the U.S. He endorsed a more moderate "comprehensive immigration reform," similar to what candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were proposing at the time.
That endorsement won him critics from the right, who want the Trump administration to make good on promises to get tougher on illegal immigration and crack down to deport those in the country illegally.
In an opinion piece titled "No to Puzder" in the National Review published Feb. 15, the conservative magazine wrote: "The case for his confirmation has diminished to the point of disappearing."
The most vocal critics, however, have pointed to his industry's record at the very department he would lead.
For the fast-food industry overall, during the 2016 federal fiscal year, the agency found violations in 86 percent of the 1,300 cases it investigated for wage theft, or for unpaid overtime. CKE Restaurants had one of the lowest incidents of reported cases, faring relatively well in an industry that came in for a lot of criticism under the Obama administration.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said Puzder would not have enforced labor laws against his own industry. "How can he possibly go out and defend workers," he said, arguing the agency should be headed by someone with a history of trying to protect the interests of workers.
Trump Picks R. Alexander Acosta As New Labor Nominee
February 16, 201711:50 AM ET
Updated with announcement
President Trump has named R. Alexander Acosta as his replacement for labor secretary nominee. Trump's earlier pick, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination on Wednesday afternoon after losing support on both sides of the aisle.
Acosta has been dean of the law school at Florida International University since 2009. He has been a member of the National Labor Relations Board and was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Prior to that, he was an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division during the George W. Bush administration.
His tenure there was not without controversy. Acosta filed a brief defending an Ohio law that allowed people to challenge the legitimacy of a voter at a polling place, even though the Justice Department was not involved in the case, as the Los Angeles Times reported in 2004.
While Acosta was U.S. attorney, his office was reprimanded by a federal judge after it was revealed that prosecutors there had illegally recorded conversations with the attorney of a doctor accused of illegally prescribing painkillers. Acosta said he had instructed his employees to not do that again.
If confirmed, Acosta will be the first Hispanic member of the president's Cabinet.
Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants — including Hardee's and Carl's Jr., had been scheduled for a confirmation hearing on Thursday after multiple delays. He faced criticism for his management of the company and for more personal issues, including a since-retracted domestic abuse allegation from his wife and hiring a housekeeper who came to the U.S. illegally.
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