Trump to Name Hardee's Exec as Labor Secretary

Donald Trump's latest Cabinet pick is Andy Puzder, the CEO of fast-food chains including Hardee's and Carl's Jr., who is widely expected to be named labor secretary, reports the Wall Street Journal. The AP frames the pick as adding "another wealthy business person and elite donor to his Cabinet," while the New York Times reports on Puzder's policy stances, namely that he is an outspoken critic of raising the minimum wage above $9 an hour or expanding overtime protections, and has strongly supported the repeal of ObamaCare and opposed worker protections rolled out by the current administration. "We've reached the point where overregulation is doing meaningful damage to our businesses," he said last month, citing high labor and health care costs, and "political and social" policies.

Puzder would mark another notable Cabinet-level pick that Trump plucks from the business community, along with WWE co-founder Linda McMahon at the top of the Small Business Administration and former Goldman Sachs exec Steve Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, notes the AP. A Trump spokesman Wednesday called Puzder "an excellent advocate for the president-elect and his economic message." (More Donald Trump stories.)