“Andy Puzder has the experience and ability to make an excellent labor secretary,
but I respect his decision,” said Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the chairman of the labor committee.
WASHINGTON — The fast-food executive Andrew F. Puzder withdrew his nomination to be labor secretary on Wednesday as Republican senators turned sharply against him, the latest defeat for a White House besieged by infighting
and struggling for traction even with a Republican-controlled Congress.
“It is extremely unfortunate that the confirmation process has resulted in a qualified
and dedicated man withdrawing from the labor secretary nomination,” said Cicely Simpson, executive vice president of the association.
“The fact that someone so anti-labor was even nominated shows how far President Trump is from where he campaigned.”
As the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains, Mr. Puzder had come under intense criticism from Democrats and liberal groups
that accused him of mistreating his workers and supporting automation in the workplace.
“Puzder should never have even been nominated to lead the Labor Department, and Senate Republicans clearly recognized this, too,” Mr. Schumer said.
A spokesman for Mr. Puzder, George Thompson, said his treatment had been “an unprecedented smear campaign.”
In a statement, Mr. Puzder thanked the president and those who supported him for their
optimism about the “policies and new thinking” he would have brought to the job.
