Trump Is Reportedly Considering the CEO of Carl’s Jr. for Secretary of Labor

In the days following his election win, when Donald Trump's not busy tweeting, he's been busy assembling the cabinet that will keep the wheels of government rolling during his presidency. Among others, his picks so far have included General James "Mad Dog" Mattis as Defense Secretary and former presidential candidate and neurosurgeon Ben Carson as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who has never held elected office and who, some have joked, is best qualified for the job because he owns a house.

As Trump continues to pull together his version of a Dream Team, which already has a combined net worth of $11 billion, rumors are circling that Trump's going to appoint the current CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's as America's Secretary of Labor.

The New York Times reports that Andrew Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants, is a leading candidate for the job. Puzder helms both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's as well as burrito chains Green Burrito and Red Burrito.

He's also a critic of various aspects of Obamacare and an outspoken opponent of raising the minimum wage to $15, both of which, he told the Los Angeles Times, make it difficult for businesses to employ more workers. He spoke with the Times after comments he made regarding the future of automation in restaurants led to speculation about a workerless future for fast food restaurants.

"[Robots are] 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 told Business Insider in an interview earlier this year. (Apparently he hasn't seen the waiter robots in China that were so bad at their jobs that the restaurant they staffed was forced to close.)

Puzder clarified his views later in the Wall Street Journal, where he penned an opinion piece stating that consumer preference is driving restaurants toward increased automation, but that restaurant workers aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Trump, who is also the former owner of the Miss Universe Organization, is a proud fan of fast food, and in Puzder, he may see not only a bedrock of conservative principles, but also an ally in his passion for burgers and parading women around in bikinis.

"I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American," Puzder told Entrepreneur Magazine last year. "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."

And with that, we will await the official announcement.