Andy Puzder isn’t happy. “President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be labor secretary has voiced second thoughts in recent days, because of a relentless barrage of criticism from Democrats, labor unions and other liberal groups,” says CNN, citing a business ally and GOP sources.
Puzder is the CEO of the company that owns the Hardees and Carl’s Jr. fast food chains.
“He may be bailing,” a Republican source plugged into the Trump transition effort told the network. “He is not into the pounding he is taking, and the paperwork.”
A Trump transition spokesperson declined to comment about the report, but later pointed to a tweet made by Puzder after CNN’s report, which said: “I am looking forward to my hearing.”
Puzder is generally known for his anti-regulation, free-market views, which could spell doom for a major initiative of the Department he’s looking to head—namely the fiduciary rule—if he’s confirmed.
“The choice of Andy Puzder, a fast-food-chain executive with strong antiregulation views, for labor secretary has fueled expectations among financial-industry experts that the Labor Department’s new retirement-savings rule faces delays or even a rollback,” The Wall Street Journal specifically reported upon news of the nomination.
However, the paper tempered expectations a bit, noting “Trump’s stance is unknown. And like Mr. Trump, Mr. Puzder—now chief executive of CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s—hasn’t publicly discussed his views on the so-called fiduciary rule, or on retirement savings in general.”
“His required ethics and financial paperwork also has not yet been posted by the Office of Government Ethics, which makes the filings public after nominees for top federal positions detail how they plan to comply with federal ethics rules regarding financial holdings,” CNN adds.
Puzder’s confirmation hearings was initially scheduled for this week, but is on hold likely until next month.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
