Donald Trump is batting .500 for cabinet members who screwed up nanny tax reporting.
This morning, the Senate narrowly confirmed Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-South Carolina) to head the White House Office of Management and Budget. The vote was 51-49. At least Vice President Mike Pence didn't have to up to Capitol Hill to break a tie this time.
Did Mulvaney's failure to comply with the nanny tax between 2000 and 2004 contribute to the closeness of the Senate vote?
Maybe.
Mulvaney acknowledged that during the years in question, he failed to pay $15,000 in Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA, taxes, as well as federal and state unemployment taxes, for a household employee.
But what persuaded Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the lone Republican to vote against Mulvaney in the otherwise party-line confirmation vote, was the new OMB chief's desire to slash military spending. But McCain's opposition was not enough to stop Mulvaney's approval.
Puzder takes himself out: Today's vote on Mulvaney was just a day after fast-food chain CEO Andrew Puzder withdrew from consideration for Secretary of Labor.
The bulk of baggage that Puzder brought with him to the confirmation process apparently was too heavy to carry all the way to the Department of Labor office. There was his minimum wage stance, harassment complaints by workers at some of his restaurants, racy (read sexist) ads for Carl's Jr., and claims of domestic abuse, since recanted.
Add to that Puzder's own nanny tax troubles.
In addition to not paying the proper taxes for a housekeeper, Puzder admitted that the woman was not a legal immigrant.
Acosta is new Labor nominee: As the Senate was wrapping up Mulvaney's confirmation, Trump announced that Alexander Acosta, a former Justice Department official and current dean of Florida International University College of Law, is his new pick for Labor Secretary.
If approved by the Senate, the Cuban born former federal judge will be the first Hispanic in Trump's cabinet.
I'll let you know if any nanny tax issues pop during his confirmation process.
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