Andrew Puzder

Andrew Puzder, a major Trump donor and Heritage Foundation visiting fellow, was Trump’s failed nominee for Secretary of Labor. Puzder opposed raising the federal minimum wage, paid sick leave, and overtime. He also led fast food companies that were accused of discrimination, and some of his employees claimed he showed “disdain” for workers. Puzder was the CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., for almost two decades.

Puzder has said, “I’m probably more a member of the religious right than I am anything else.” He is an anti-abortion zealot who has sought to overturn Roe v. Wade. In the 1980s he created legislation in Missouri to recognize fetal personhood, and he argued that trespass laws should not apply to anti-abortions protestors at abortion clinics. In 1989, the New York Times reported on Missouri’s efforts to ban abortion and quoted Puzder who declared his support for the ban, with a possible exception as “to save the life of the mother and, perhaps if forced on us, in rape and incest cases” (emphasis added). He also declared: “My goal was to switch the discussion from whether abortion was a privacy issue or a woman’s rights issue to whether it is the taking of another life.”

Puzder’s nomination to head the Department of Labor was controversial because of his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage and to certain overtime policies, in addition to being critical of paid sick leave. He led fast food companies that were accused of discrimination and some of his employees claimed he showed disinterest in people and even “disdain” for workers. For example, one employee claimed, “People would shake in their shoes as he came in […] He was very rude…If you were a white, blond cashier, you were doing a great job. If you were an overweight person, it was highly recommended that we try to get rid of you.” His companies were also accused of wage theft. According to the Century Foundation, investigators found numerous violations resulting “in $145,310 in back wages paid to 877 employees from 2004–2016.” Puzder also praised replacing workers, stating “[machines were] always polite, they 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 also came to Trump’s defense following his 34 felony convictions, which includes a FOX op-ed where he claimed Trump did not have a fair trial. He wrote, “President Trump’s actual offense at his New York trial was not a misdemeanor accounting violation magically transformed into 34 felonies. His crime was winning a presidential election and threatening to win another. New York Democrats prosecuted Trump solely to create a political advantage for their unpopular candidate by convicting and threatening to imprison his Republican opponent. It’s really that simple.” He made this assertion despite the findings of 12 neutral jurors that Trump violated the law, repeatedly.

Puzder is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, which established Project 2025 and is working to assemble an “army of aligned, vetted, trained, and prepared conservatives” to institutionalize Trumpism and remake America’s federal government. Puzder has also been aiding Heritage in assailing ESG (environmental, social and governance) measures that many companies have adopted, and he has drafted anti-ESG bills, helping to turn anti-ESG into a GOP talking point. He is listed as a contributor to Leonard Leo’s Federalist Society, a network of right-wing lawyers that serves as a pipeline to power as judges and more. Leo, the man who hand-picked Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and other judges, has also used the wealth at his disposal to fund efforts to assail ESG, in addition to attacking access to abortion and more in ways that are aligned with Puzder.

Note: Individuals included in the “Supply Chain” risk scenario would have decision-making purview over a regulatory space that greatly influences supply chains in key industries (e.g. agriculture, healthcare, technology, consumer goods), or whose influence on domestic or foreign policy could greatly disrupt aspects of supply chains, including shipping and logistics, trade agreements, and labor availability.

This profile has been updated.