Several of Puzder's food franchisees were fined by the Labor Dept, the very organization Puzder has been nominated to lead, for not paying employees properly. Puzder fought against minimum wage increases, donating money to a failed attempt to fight a ballot measure raising Nevada's minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.15. In response to critics of his sexually charged fast-food commercials, Puzder said, "I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American."   read more

Tillerson's ExxonMobil cut a deal with Russia in 2011 for a joint venture to explore for oil in the Russian Arctic. But in 2014, the collaboration ended due to sanctions the U.S. put into place after Russia invaded Ukraine. Not surprisingly, Tillerson opposed the sanctions. Russia wasn’t the only place where Tillerson’s company acted in opposition to U.S. interests. It also signed an oil deal with the Kurds who control Iraq’s northern region. That agreement cut out the Iraqi central government.   read more

A member of the American Psychological Association, Kane is a recognized authority on the subjects of psychology, criminology and corrections. He joined the Bureau in 1977 as a social science research analyst, focusing on such issues as prison-based sexual assaults and violence, and inmate management. In 2012, Kane was named deputy director of the agency, taking on responsibilities that included oversight of restrictive prison housing, labor-management initiatives and staff safety.   read more

What are the 15 biggest imports from Mexico to the United States?   read more

Linda McMahon helped make WWE hugely profitable, but some of that came from keeping costs low, especially when it came to paying the wrestlers. She sought exemptions that would allow WWE to be treated as entertainment instead of a sport, thus relieving it of the burden of drug testing. WWE is not forced to provide health insurance for wrestlers, nor does it pay into Social Security or unemployment insurance for them. Running for the Senate in 2012, McMahon called for the SBA to be abolished.   read more

Then governor of Iowa, Branstad first met Xi Jinping, now president of China, during Xi's stay there in 1985. Xi returned to the town in 2012 as China’s vice-president. An early Trump supporter, Branstad was mentioned after the election as a likely candidate for the Beijing post, even drawing supportive comments from the Chinese. "Mr. Branstad is an old friend of the Chinese people and we welcome him to play a greater role in promoting Sino-U.S. relations,” said a Chinese government spokesman.   read more

As a 2015 presidential candidate, Carson took on the agency he would eventually run. He called HUD's new fair housing policies “government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality.” His other positions included a 10% flat tax based on the Biblical reference to tithing; that being gay could be “cured”; that Obama was a “psychopath”; the Holocaust happened because of gun control; and that the Egyptian pyramids were built as grain-storage facilities. He also compared Obamacare to slavery.   read more

In contrast to Trump, who said he’ll reinstitute waterboarding, Mattis gained a reputation for not tolerating the torture of prisoners. But Mattis isn’t shy about his love of battle. In 2005, he said about fighting the Taliban: “Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people... I like brawling.” Some say his conduct in Iraq amounted to war crimes. In 2004, he ordered an attack on what turned out to be a wedding party, killing 42 people.   read more

In 2001, Brasure was made director of the Air Force’s High Power Microwave Program at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. In 2006, he became chief of the Stockpile Systems Division of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency there. In 2008, he moved to the Dept of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Two years later, he became executive director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at the Kirtland Base.   read more

In the 72 years since Harry Truman became President and Gallup began asking about presidential approval, Donald Trump is the only President to start his term with a majority of Americans disapproving of his job performance. Trump’s numbers at his inauguration—usually one of the high points of a president’s popularity—are closer to those of a failing president than a newly minted one. In fact, Trump’s inaugural job disapproval numbers are nearly off the charts.   read more

Bindman has done several studies on healthcare involving those in poverty. He has also investigated the link between access to care and preventable hospitalizations. Bindman was named San Francisco General’s chief of general internal medicine in 1996. In 1999 and 2000, he served as visiting professor at University College London, then from 2009 to 2010 he worked on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, helping draft language for the Affordable Care Act.   read more

Steven Mnuchin foreclosed on at least 50,000 homes during the Great Recession. In fact, in 2011, a federal investigation forced Mnuchin's bank to agree to the issuance of a Consent Order to remedy numerous abusive practices it was using to make money. Recently, a complaint filed with the Dept of Housing accused his bank of violating the Fair Housing Act by “redlining,” an illegal practice of not doing business in minority neighborhoods in order to avoid making home loans to minorities.   read more

Walker worked for Missouri’s Dept of Social Services and in 1988 was named director of the Missouri Division of Aging. He pushed through a program that made it easier for the elderly to remain in their homes, instead of being forced into nursing facilities. Walker joined the Administration on Aging in 1992 as associate commissioner for State and Community Programs. He later moved up to be Director of Program Operations and Development, and by 2009 was Deputy Assistant Secretary at AoA.   read more

A native of Germany, Keller came to the U.S. in 1994 as a consultant for biotech firm Diversa. He then joined the company full time and became director of screening and technology development. Diversa worked to turn organisms into enzymes that were used in chemicals. Keller even took organisms from boiling-hot thermal pools at Yellowstone National Park to be used in different compounds. Keller's work at Oak Ridge Lab centered on developing biological replacements for petroleum-based fuels.   read more

Swenson's background is in marketing, but she became interested in the plight of the disabled after one of her three sons, Charlie, was found not long after his birth to be profoundly disabled.She began learning how to advocate for her son’s needs and started to work for the rights of all disabled. She testified about the disabled before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in 1993 and, three years later, she found herself working with that subcommittee as a Kennedy Fellow in the Senate.   read more

Bay became the first Chinese-American U.S. Attorney during the Wen Ho Lee case. The government was accused of prosecuting Lee due to his Chinese background and Lee was held without bail for months. Bay helped negotiate the plea deal that freed Lee. Bay's nomination to chair FERC brought pushback from a disgruntled energy industry and some senators who said a FERC employee shouldn’t jump to the chairmanship without having served on the commission. So Bay did so prior to taking over as chairman.   read more