Dive Brief:
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President-elect Donald Trump has named fast-food executive Andy Puzder as his pick for secretary of labor, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Puzder is the CEO of CKE Holdings, which owns the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurant chains. He has served as an economic adviser and financial contributor to Trump, and he previously was an economic adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, according to The Hill.
- Puzder has been a vocal critic of recent business regulations — including the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act — and a vocal proponent of lowering the corporate tax rate.
Dive Insight:
The choice of Puzder to head the DOL coincides with Trump's promises to slash government regulations, which he has said are hindering stronger business growth.
A federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction against the DOL's controversial overtime rule — which would have made salaried employees earning up to $47,476 per year eligible for overtime, up from the current exempt threshold of $23,660 — late last month. Construction industry groups were largely opposed to the rule, as they said that doubling the overtime salary threshold would result in salaried employees being bumped to an hourly wage and that the rule did not take into consideration different pay scales across the U.S.
Calls to lower the corporate tax rate are also popular in the construction industry, as a U.S. Department of the Treasury report released in April found that from 2007 to 2010, construction companies paid a higher average effective federal tax rate than businesses in any other industry. Construction firms paid effective federal corporate taxes at an average rate of 30.3%, while companies across all industries paid an average of 23.3%, according to the report.
Puzder follows Trump's selections of Elaine Chao as transportation secretary and Ben Carson as HUD secretary. These departments have the potential to significantly impact the construction and housing industries, and all three nominees are known for their light approach to regulations. The candidates must be confirmed by the Senate.
