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Registered
Democrats claimed victory.
?The simple truth is that given his relationship to employees at the companies he runs, he was not fit to lead a department responsible for defending workers? rights,? said Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination last year.
The chief executive of the CKE Restaurants fast-food chain, owner of Hardee?s and Carl?s Jr., had come under intense fire from Democrats and liberal groups who accused him of mistreating his workers, opposing the minimum wage and supporting automation in the workplace. The attacks on his policy views were compounded by intense scrutiny of his personal life, including allegations that he abused his ex-wife in the 1980s.
Senators were privately shown a videotape of Mr. Puzder?s wife appearing incognito on Oprah Winfrey?s television show and detailing her claims of abuse, which she later recanted.
Conservatives, including the editors of National Review and Breitbart News, focused their fire on his employment of an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper and his failure to pay taxes for her services.
The groundswell of opposition had led several Republicans to waver in their support for Mr. Puzder ahead of his confirmation hearing on Thursday morning.
