Puzder's confirmation hearing delayed for fourth time

WASHINGTON – The confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the labor department has been delayed for a fourth time.

Labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder’s hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 7 but was postponed Tuesday to allow him time to submit his paperwork to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee is chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

A new date for the hearing has not been set.

“The committee will not officially notice a confirmation hearing with Mr. Puzder until members have received his paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics,” a Senate aide said.

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The delay marks the second time in less than a week and the fourth time overall that Puzder’s hearing has been postponed since Trump nominated the Tennessean for the labor position back in December.

Last week, the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, called on Puzder to voluntarily release three years of tax returns as part of the committee vetting process and urged him to make the documents available in time for the committee to review them before his hearing.

Murray said she also had not received notice from the White House that Puzder’s FBI background investigation had been completed. “I am concerned that the absence of your paperwork at this late stage may impede the committee’s ability to perform a thorough review,” she wrote.

The latest postponement of Puzder’s hearing came just a few hours after Senate Democrats blocked a committee vote on two other Trump nominees – Steve Mnuchin, tapped to be the new Treasury secretary, and GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Democrats refused to attend a committee meeting on those nominees, thus denying Republicans a quorum and preventing the vote from occurring.

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Puzder, who lives in Franklin, Tenn., is the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains. He served as a senior economic adviser during Trump’s campaign and in 2008 also was an economic adviser for the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.

Puzder has drawn intense fire from labor unions and other groups over his opposition to raising the minimum wage and over questions about low wages and other workplace practices at his restaurants. He also has criticized a now-halted rule enacted under President Barack Obama that would have expanded eligibility for overtime pay to 4 million Americans.

Amid the harsh scrutiny, CNN reported in mid-January that he was reconsidering taking the labor secretary position and might ask that his nomination be withdrawn.

Puzder, however, attempted to dampen that speculation by responding hours later on Twitter that he was looking forward to his confirmation hearing.