Andrew Puzder has withdrawn as President Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary. Just two days earlier, Michael Flynn resigned from his position as national security adviser. Puzder faced united Democratic opposition. And some Senate Republicans were concerned that he employed an undocumented worker as a housekeeper. Flynn’s departure came just 24 days into the Trump administration. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn, a retired general, lost the trust of the president. David Greenberg is a historian at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He said he couldn’t remember any recent high-level White House official losing his job so quickly. Flynn’s departure is notable for how quickly it occurred. But all recent presidents have asked top administration officials to resign. Some, like Puzder, did not get to serve even one day in the job for which they were nominated. The last three presidents, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, all pulled back important nominations after questions were raised about their choices. For Obama, it was his first choice for health secretary. For Bush, it was a nominee for the Supreme Court. And for Clinton, it was his first two choices for attorney general.
