Puzder

Labor Pick Puzder Drops Out; Trump Slams Leaks Over Russia Contact Reports

... Russia connection Democrats on Capitol Hill are calling for an independent investigation to address unanswered questions surrounding Michael Flynn's resignation and new reports of regular contact between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Judy Woodruff speaks with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about what and how she would like to probe in the wake of Flynn’s departure.2017-02-15 18:00:00 __link__/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RTSYLXR-320 x 196.jpg 2365957405_1 Rqfkx 44 DY 207047207039 __link__/newshour/bb/shrugging-off-two-state-solution-mean-mideast-peace-prospects/What shrugging off a two-state solution could mean for peace With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, President Trump served notice that he's not wedded to long-standing U. S. support for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hari Sreenivasan gets analysis from Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, and Brookings Institute's Tamara Wittes.2017-02-15 18:00:00 __link__/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RTSYUDS-320 x 196.jpg 2365957396 B 0 HPh Hg XQ 88207045207042 ...

Trump's Labor Secretary Pick Withdraws Nomination

... Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the panel that was to handle the hearing. One GOP senator, speaking on condition of anonymity because the conversations were private, said six senators had asked the White House to call off Puzder's Thursday hearing because they couldn't see themselves voting for him. That would have put the nomination in jeopardy, since Senate Republicans have only a 52-48 majority and Democrats are solidly opposed. Pentagon Chief Says NATO Members Must Boost Defense Spending. Puzder's spokesman said the nominee had paid the taxes as soon as he found out he owed them. But the discrepancy remained a growing political problem for Republicans and the Trump White House, which has taken a hard line on immigration and taxes. Before Puzder withdrew, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., had said, "I want to hear what he has to say about that," adding that he had moved from endorsing the nominee to joining the ranks of GOP senators who weren't committing to vote for Puzder before the scheduled hearing. Published at 2:40 ...

Trump Labor Chief Nominee Puzder Dodges Disability Bias Suit For Now

... was brought by James Dombrowski, whose employment was terminated as he recovered from a brain biopsy, according to court filings. CKE’s franchised restaurants have faced wage-and-hour and labor condition complaints from workers, but the Dombrowski case is against the holding company largely controlled by Puzder. CKE was also named in an antitrust lawsuit filed by current and former Carl’s Jr. workers in a California court on Wednesday that alleges a scheme to suppress wages across its franchises by using “no hire” agreements. Dombrowski claims that he was fired by CKE when he tried to return to work in 2015, at the age of 68, after taking a disability leave following a brain biopsy which temporarily paralyzed him. CKE’s attorney in the Dombrowski case, Scott Ferrell, argued that the negative publicity surrounding CKE’s business practices due to Puzder’s fame as a Cabinet nominee would hurt the company’s ability to have a fair jury trial, not that the case would in any way hurt Puzder’s ability to be confirmed. Ferrell declined to comment on the case. Dombrowski’s attorney did not ...

Puzder Was Right On Minimum Wage

... know the choices they’ll have to make if costs rise in their low-margin businesses. At the beginning of the year, the minimum wage increased by 40 cents in Michigan, from $8.50 per hour to $8.90. The increase will give a raise to 188,000 workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute. And although some workers are better off, many people just got priced out of a job. “The irony of this is the very people we’re trying to help end up getting hurt,” says Rob Fowler, president and chief executive of the Michigan Small Business Association. Fowler says economics and experience shows small businesses, especially those in the service industry, will have to lay off employees because of the minimum wage increase. Fowler contends wage increases happen frequently and naturally in entry level jobs. “To attract and retain people businesses are paying higher wages,” Fowler says. “The market always drives ...

Andrew Puzder Withdraws Labor Nomination, Throwing White House Into More Turmoil

... several Senate Republicans away, they said. Puzder had told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this month that he had been unaware of the housekeeper’s immigration status when he hired her and that he paid federal and state back taxes after terminating her employment. Similar revelations have forced Cabinet nominees to withdraw dating to at least Bill Clinton’s presidency, but it was less clear this year, in the unpredictable, rule-breaking era of Trump, whether that norm would apply. In the end, the revelation was particularly troubling to lawmakers because of the job Puzder was seeking: running the Labor Department. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S. C.), a member of the Senate health committee, said Wednesday that revelations about Puzder’s personal employment practices gave him “serious concerns” that he had conveyed to Senate leaders. Three other GOP senators on the committee, Susan Collins (Maine), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), had also publicly voiced doubts. In the hours before Puzder withdrew, 12 Republican senators “at a minimum” were ...

Trump Urges Venezuela To Release Lopez

... about his failure to pay taxes for five years on a former housekeeper who wasn't authorized to work in the U. S. Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants Inc. 2:45 p.m. President Donald Trump plans to hold one of his signature rallies in Florida this weekend. Trump is promoting the event with a tweet — inviting people to join him at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport for the event at 5 p.m. Saturday. It'll be Trump's first rally since he took office — and his first since he took a "thank you tour" in December through states that he won in the election the month before. That swing ended Dec. 17 in Alabama. Trump's large and raucous rallies were a key part of his unconventional campaign. 12:35 p.m. President Donald Trump says his ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is a "wonderful man" who has been treated "very, very unfairly" by the media. The White House says Trump fired Flynn late Monday following reports that Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the U. S. before Trump was sworn into office. Flynn and other administration officials originally denied the topic had been discussed. White House ...

How Elizabeth Warren Found A Villain In Andy Puzder

... agenda. On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (which includes Warren and the same panel of Democrats that grilled Betsy De Vos last month) was to hold a hearing on the nomination of Andy Puzder, the longtime fast-food C. E. O., as Secretary of Labor. But Puzder withdrew his nomination this afternoon, after it became clear that too many Republican senators opposed his confirmation. So, too, did just about everyone else. Women’s groups were alarmed that Puzder’s ex-wife had alleged that he abused her. (She made her claims public on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in 1990, and retracted them eight months later, as part of a child-custody agreement.). Religious Republicans were bothered by the decade-long, soft-core-porn advertising campaign that he approved for Carl’s Jr. Conservatives were distressed by the disclosure that Puzder had employed an undocumented immigrant as a domestic ...

Trumps Labor Secretary Nominee, Andrew Puzder, Was Accused Of Sexual Harassment In A 2004 Lawsuit

... hiring when she told her boss, then-CFO Dennis Lacey, she was pregnant, and ending with her firing some 17 months later, allegedly in retaliation for requesting raises that she said male colleagues had received. Lacey unleashed a torrent of abuse after learning she was pregnant, Leaken said in court documents. “Lacey continued to treat plaintiff and other female employees in a hostile and demeaning manner,” Leakan’s complaint reads. He was loud, abusive and allegedly referred to Leakan and other women as “stupid” and “an idiot,” rolled his eyes at Leakan’s comments and became “angry, annoyed and resentful” when she took time off for prenatal medical appointments. The former CFO shared his belief that women “should stay at home with the kids” and told her that he wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t return to work after maternity leave, Leakan claimed in her ...

Andrew Puzder Withdraws Nomination For Labor Secretary

... a long time finishing the ethics paperwork he needed to submit as part of the confirmation process, and as time went on, more and more unflattering details came out about him personally. For one thing, he admitted he had employed a housekeeper who was in the country illegally. Even though he said he fired her and paid back taxes after finding out, that kind of a mistake has tanked Cabinet nominees in the past. Then there was also this old issue from his divorce three decades ago. His ex-wife filed documents then alleging physical abuse - beatings around the neck and body. She even went on "The Oprah Show" in 1990 to discuss the incidents. Although, more recently, through an attorney, she now says she made those incidents up. What to make of that is confusing, but it clearly gave pause to people like Maine Republican Susan Collins, who remained undecided. MCEVERS: Well, why did that incident matter in terms of him - his appointment as labor secretary. NOGUCHI: Right. I think that story had legs because one of the things alleged about his restaurant chain and the fast food industry generally is that sexual harassment runs rampant. And if he were confirmed, he ...