Skip to main content

Ahead of Tomorrow's Confirmation Hearing, Is Labor Secretary Nominee Andy Puzder Out?


Note, as of the time of this post, the below information is what is known in regard to Andy Puzder's nomination for Labor Secretary  This story will likely change within the next few hours.


Tomorrow is scheduled to be the day President Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, Andy Puzder, has his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee.  However, as of this writing, serious concern had arisen over the viability of the nomination after details emerged about a tape from the Oprah Winfrey show in which Puzder's ex-wife alleged domestic abuse occurred during their marriage.  Even though Puzder's ex-wife has recanted this prior allegation, it has drawn additional unwanted attention to the nomination.  

Word leaked earlier this morning that there are already several firm 'no' votes among Republican Senators in regard to Puzder's nomination.  In fact, there are apparently enough 'no' votes to sink the nomination entirely.  As a result, pressure has increased this afternoon to have the White House withdraw its nomination of Puzder rather than have Puzder's nomination fall in the Senate.  With no apparent movement from the White House at this point, there is now speculation that Puzder himself will formally withdraw as the nominee (presumably before his confirmation hearing).  It has been reported that Puzder has yet to submit his opening statement ahead of tomorrow's confirmation hearing, which is unusual for a cabinet nominee.  In fact, Fox News reported twenty minutes ago that Puzder is expected to withdraw while the Huffington Post had stated that the White House was expected to withdraw the nomination sometime later today.  Either way, for those hoping to see Puzder become the next Labor Secretary, today has been nothing short of tumultuous.  

This of course begs the question of who President Trump would nominate as the new nominee for Labor Secretary.  For the time being, I will emphasize that Puzder remains the nominee to fill the spot formerly held by Tom Perez (under President Obama) & tomorrow's confirmation hearing is still set.  With that being said, keep an eye posted.  This story will likely eveolve over the next 24 hours...or more likely within the next few hours as more details emerge and/or official announcements are released from the White House or Puzder.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more