Andrew Puzder

Andrew Franklin Puzder (; born July 11, 1950) is an American attorney, author, and businessman who has served as United States Ambassador to the European Union since 2025.

Puzder worked as a commercial trial lawyer in private practice from 1978 to 1995, handling many high-profile cases and being active in the anti-abortion movement. He was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., from September 2000 to March 2017. While holding this position, he was nominated on December 8, 2016, by then-President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of Labor. After it came out that he had kept an illegal immigrant as his housekeeper, paying no taxes on her work, Puzder, who also faced criticism for his company’s treatment of its workers, withdrew on February 15, 2017, for want of votes needed for his confirmation.

On January 22, 2025, President Trump announced his nomination of Puzder to serve as United States Ambassador to the European Union in his second administration. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 2, 2025. He presented his credentials on September 11, 2025.

Puzder is a frequent commentator on economic and political issues. He co-authored a book entitled Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn't Understand It. After withdrawing as Secretary of Labor nominee, Puzder published his second book, The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left's Plot to Stop It, in 2018.

Early life and education Puzder was born on July 11, 1950, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Winifred M. (Franklin) and Andrew Frank Puzder, a car salesman. He grew up in a working class community in Russell Township.

Earning his way through college and law school, while supporting his family by working construction, landscaping, and painting houses, he attended Kent State University, but later dropped out in 1970 to play guitar and perform in bands.

Puzder would later move to Cleveland Heights where he managed a guitar studio while attending Cleveland State University, receiving a BA in history in 1975. He then attended Washington University School of Law where he was the senior editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly, receiving his JD in 1978. Puzder would become the first in his family to graduate from college.

Career

Early legal career From 1978 to 1991, Puzder was a commercial trial lawyer in St. Louis at the law offices of famed attorney Morris Shenker, whom he represented in various matters from 1978 to 1984. In 1984 he moved to the Stolar Partnership where he worked with trial attorney Charles A. Seigel from 1984 to 1991. During this time he also served as a trial lawyer in St. Louis and was involved in a number of high-profile cases until 1997.

Anti-abortion movement During the 1980s and early 1990s, Puzder was considered Missouri's leading anti-abortion lawyer and was active in the anti-abortion advocacy group Lawyers for Life. In 1984, Puzder and another lawyer wrote an article for the Stetson Law Review proposing a Missouri law that would define life as beginning at conception in the broad context of contract or property law. Working with St. Louis area Congresswoman Ann Wagner's mother-in-law, Puzder reasoned that if fetuses were recognized as having rights in other contexts, it would establish a foundation for challenging Roe v. Wade later on.

It would also influence one section of Missouri House Bill 1596, The watershed decision opened the door for new state-level restrictions on abortion.

In July 1989, Puzder was appointed chair of the Task Force for Mothers and Unborn Children by Missouri Governor John Ashcroft. After The Riverfront Times published an article detailing allegations that he had abused his wife, he offered up his resignation to the Governor, which the Governor later rejected.

His former wife subsequently "fully" withdrew those allegations in 1990 and has been adamant that Puzder was "not abusive" and that she would "most definitely confirm to anyone who may ask that in no way was there abuse." In a letter dated Jan. 18, 2017 that she sent to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, she stated: "Let me be clear. Andy is not and was not abusive or violent. He is a good, loving, kind man and a deeply committed and loving father." She acknowledged that she was "misled by faulty advice of someone I trusted" and noted that "he fact that my attorney used 'adult abuse' as a vehicle to gain leverage in our divorce proceedings has haunted me as well as our children to this day. "

Puzder left the task force a few months later because of workload according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

CKE Restaurants Puzder speaking on a panel at FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2016. Puzder represented Carl Karcher, the founder of the Carl's Jr. quick-service restaurant chain, while practicing law in St. Louis. Karcher was under investigation into insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC filed suit saying that Karcher had told several relatives to sell their stock ahead of a poor earnings report. In July 1989, Karcher paid $664,000 to settle the case. Puzder organized a transaction in which Karcher would sell a stake in his company to William P. Foley, the chairman and CEO of Fidelity National Financial.

In 1997, Puzder was also named executive vice president and general counsel for CKE and CKE purchased the Hardee's quick-service restaurant brand. The transaction burdened CKE with $700 million in debt. The company underperformed and its market capitalization dropped to about $200 million. Puzder is credited with turning around both the Hardee's brand and CKE, allowing the company to survive, become financially secure and return to growth.

Sales to Apollo and Roark Capital In July 2010, Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, acquired CKE for $700 million in a transaction valued at $1 billion and took the company private. In December 2013, Roark Capital Group purchased CKE and retained CKE's management team including Puzder, who remained CEO until replaced in June 2017. Puzder earned the Golden Chain Award in 2008 from Nation's Restaurant News, in honor of his accomplishments and career achievements as a multi-unit foodservice executive. In 2010, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association awarded Puzder with the Food Service Operator of the Year Silver Plate Award in recognition of outstanding service and dedication to the foodservice industry. In 2012, Washington University School of Law named Puzder Distinguished Alumni of the Year.

Advertisements Under Puzder, CKE launched a long-running ad campaign for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's showing thin, scantily dressed female celebrities eating large hamburgers. They began with a 2005 ad featuring Paris Hilton eating a burger while wearing a bikini and washing a car. Other notable commercials included 2009 spots featuringTop Chef'''s Padma Lakshmi and Kim Kardashian. A 2012 ad starred Kate Upton stripping down while eating a burger in the back of a vintage car. In 2016, Hardee's ran a suggestive ad for its "bacon three-way" burger, in which 3 women--models Genevieve Morton and Emily Sears, and Playboy Playmate Elena Belle--struck seductive poses as they fed bacon to one another. Puzder defended the CKE advertisements saying "We saved the company with those ads, we saved a lot of jobs," and "I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American. I used to hear, brands take on the personality of the CEO. And I rarely thought that was true, but I think this one, in this case, it kind of did take on my personality." After Puzder left CKE in 2017, the corporation announced it was retiring its sexy ad campaign and replacing it with "food-centered" advertising.

Media appearances Puzder is a frequent author on economic and legal issues in periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Real Clear Politics, CNBC online, National Review, The Hill, Politico, and the Orange County Register. He has been a guest on business news programs including Your World with Neil Cavuto, Varney & Co., Mornings with Maria, The O'Reilly Factor with Bill O'Reilly, Mad Money with Jim Cramer, Fast Money, Power Lunch, Lou Dobbs Tonight, and Squawk on the Street. He was the interviewee on Tucker Carlson Today's 2023 episode Burgers to Billions. He has co-hosted both Varney & Co. and Squawk on the Street. He is also a frequent speaker at colleges, universities, and other venues on economic issues and the impact of government regulations on corporations.

In 2010, Puzder and David Newton co-wrote the book Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn't Understand It. In the book, Puzder and Newton sharply criticize trade unions and argue in favor of deregulation, tax cuts, government spending cuts, and an increase in domestic oil production.

In 2018, Puzder wrote the book The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left's Plot to Stop It''. In the book, Puzder discusses how Donald Trump's presidency has impacted the U.S. economy.

Political involvement

Presidential campaign of Mitt Romney In 2011, Puzder contributed to Believe in America, Mitt Romney's Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth. He was an Economic Adviser and a spokesman for the Romney campaign for President. Puzder also served as a Delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention and as the Chairman of the Platform Committee's Sub-Committee on the Economy, Job Creation, and the Debt.

Presidential campaign of Donald Trump In 2016, Puzder raised money for the Trump campaign for President, and with his wife contributed $332,000 to Trump's campaign, joint fundraising committees, and the Republican National Committee, according to the Federal Election Commission. He was a Trump Presidential Trustee, Victory Finance Chair for California, spokesperson, and Senior Economic Advisor to the campaign. Puzder also served as a Delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and as the Chairman of the Platform Committee's "Restoring the American Dream" Sub-Committee on the economy, job creation, and the debt.

Secretary of Labor nomination On December 8, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Puzder to be United States Secretary of Labor.

Puzder's confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was delayed several times due to the Office of Government Ethics not having finalized its review specifying how Puzder would avoid ethical conflicts. A source close to Puzder, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Democrats of stalling the process: "With regards to Andy's paperwork, the Democrats and the Committee have been moving the goal post," the source said via email. Sources close to Puzder insist that he had maintained transparency and provided an enormous amount of detail in order to streamline the confirmation process.

Puzder 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." Labor Department investigators had discovered that franchisees of the Hardee’s chain, whose parent company he ran, had violated federal wage-and-hour regulations in many instances of wage theft, entitling workers to thousands of dollars in back pay. Puzder was also found to have employed an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper, paying no taxes on her services till after he was chosen by Donald Trump to lead the Labor Department.

Political views Puzder has been critical of raising the federal minimum wage, claiming that a $15 per hour minimum wage would increase costs for consumers and increase automation, leading to fewer jobs. In an interview published by Fox Business in May 2016, Puzder said: "There are solutions to this problem, and increasing the minimum wage is not the best solution. If we are going to increase the minimum wage at all, we've got to keep a lower minimum wage for entry-level workers, or these people are just going to be shut out of the workforce….The Congressional Budget Office came out with a report last year that said you could raise the minimum wage to about $9 without much impact on jobs, and you probably could do that". He said that protesters who are demanding a $15/hour minimum wage "should really think about what they're doing". Under his tenure, CKE paid $20 million over class-action lawsuits due to various overtime rule violations.

Puzder supports repealing the Affordable Care Act. He stated that rising premiums have created a "government-mandated restaurant recession" because people have less money to spend dining out. However, Puzder does not advocate completely removing humans from the "fast food equation", and has mentioned several drawbacks to increased automation, including detrimental effects on customer service and difficulty in building company culture.

He backed comprehensive immigration reform in 2013. At that time, Puzder stated "If we had immigration reform and were able to hire these people who really want to work, we'd have a more diverse, incentivized and productive workforce, you'd really reinforce this idea that the United States is the land of opportunity, the land of entrepreneurial vision — and that could use some reinforcing." In 2013, Puzder said "Immigrants appreciate what America offers. They are not taking jobs from Americans, because there are not sufficient Americans applying for jobs. Maybe they feel they have better options."

Personal life Puzder was married to Lisa Fierstein Henning from 1973 until their divorce in 1987, and they had two children together. During the divorce trial, his ex-wife alleged that Puzder had abused her. She later retracted the allegations. Puzder married Deanna L. Descher in 1987. He has six children and six grandchildren. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife. Puzder is Roman Catholic.

Affiliations Puzder is a member of: The National Advisory Board of Washington University School of Law The American Enterprise Institute The Job Creators Network, a national business advocacy organization

In 2013, Puzder was elected as a director of the International Franchise Association.