WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's nominee for labour secretary said Tuesday that a housekeeper he had previously employed at his home was an undocumented worker, potentially complicating his efforts to get confirmed. A spokesman says Andrew Puzder remains committed to leading the Labour Department.
Andrew Puzder said in a statement that he and his wife employed a housekeeper for a few years and they were unaware she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S.
"When I learned of her status, we immediately ended her employment and offered her assistance in getting legal status," Puzder said. "We have fully paid back taxes to the IRS and the State of California."
Puzder spokesman George Thompson said Tuesday that the fast food CEO remains committed to becoming secretary of labour and is working on divesting from his financial holdings.
He is the second Trump pick whose nomination has faced questions over their hiring of household workers.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump's pick to run the White House budget office, had acknowledged that he failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household worker more than a decade ago. He's repaid the government, and those developments do not seem to be impeding his prospects for confirmation.
The acknowledgement comes as Democrats and their allies attempt to pile on reasons why Puzder is wrong for the Cabinet post, starting with his post as a fast food CEO and his opposition to a big increase in the minimum wage, overtime rules and more.
Puzder is one of several Cabinet picks by Trump who has yet to be confirmed and this latest revelation could throw his efforts off course. He has not filed any required paperwork with the Senate committee handling his confirmation. But his hearing has been postponed at least three times and has not been rescheduled.
Among the other complications, Puzder outsourced his fast-food company's technology department to the Philippines, a move that contradicts Trump's vow to keep American jobs in the U.S.
A filing with the Labour Department on Puzder's company — and a spokesman's acknowledgement that CKE continues to use the IT operation in the Philippines — provides a window into a key contradiction raised by the nomination.
Trump has blasted, threatened and tried to charm American companies that have moved jobs overseas or consider it, saying he's sticking up for American workers who aren't feeling the economic recovery and form his political base.