Donald Trump is already down one top adviser—Michael Flynn—before confirmation hearings for his cabinet are even done. Thursday, labor nominee Andy Puzder is finally getting his hearing, and it looks like it may be a tough one. Senators have been allowed to see video of an Oprah episode in which Puzder’s ex-wife alleged abuse and a judge has unsealed some records of the divorce, though she’s since retracted her abuse claims. Some Republicans are at least pretending to be uncertain of their votes:
Four Republican senators on the committee — Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have not committed to backing Mr. Puzder.
Ms. Collins said on Monday that she was “reviewing the other information that has come to light” and that she looked forward to exploring it at the hearing. Mr. Scott said that he wanted to see how Mr. Puzder performed in person before making a decision. However, he acknowledged that he had concerns about Mr. Puzder’s failure to pay taxes on an undocumented housekeeper.
Those four are joined by Rob Portman and John Thune, who are not on the committee that will question Puzder but have said they’re reserving judgment until after the hearing.
Republicans seem notably unconcerned about the record of labor law violations and discrimination charges at CKE, the company Puzder has led. His defense against the rampant stories of people being forced to work off the clock or having their pay brought below minimum wage by various fees and deductions is that CKE’s restaurants—Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.—are owned by franchisees, and anything that goes wrong is on them.
But at a certain point, it’s clear that the rot is coming from the top: as the National Employment Law Project’s Cathy Ruckelshaus told Mother Jones, "Companies can make a choice about who they operate with, who they contract with in a franchise agreement. And they can certainly set standards and issue directives, like Subway has with its franchisees, to make sure that baseline minimum wage, health and safety, and discrimination laws are followed." Puzder’s CKE has not set those standards. If anything, the evidence suggests it’s set a standard of flirting with and occasionally kissing right up to law violations.
Republican senators may not care about that. But they should be reminded that working people do.