President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for labor secretary is reportedly Andy Puzder, CEO of the company that owns burger joints Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Puzder has been an advocate for rolling back regulations in the restaurant industry, and he has expressed opposition to the Affordable Care Act and raising the federal minimum wage. He has also shown an interest in "employee-free" restaurants, because machines, unlike people, "always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case," Puzder said, per Business Insider.
A spokesman for the International Franchise Association, a trade group for which Puzder is on the board, said Puzder will "likely call for tools such as an overhaul of the tax system" as opposed to "focusing on stepping up workplace regulation to create jobs and higher wages," The Wall Street Journal reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
June 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Donald's 30 dolls, a Flag Day fail and a MAGA Mayflower
-
5 jackbooted cartoons about L.A.'s anti-ICE protestsCartoons Artists take on National Guard deployment, the failure of due process, and more
-
Some of the best music and singing holidays in 2025The Week Recommends From singing lessons in the Peak District to two-week courses at Chetham's Piano Summer School
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
