Catherine Templeton at Trump Tower in December 2016. (Getty)
Andrew Puzder‘s decision to withdraw his nomination as President Donald Trump‘s Secretary of Labor has forced the administration to start from scratch to find someone to fill that cabinet position. One of the four possibilities was Catherine Templeton, the former Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and former Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Instead of Templeton, Trump picked Alexander Acosta.
The 45-year-old Templeton is well-known in South Carolina as an anti-union lawyer before working in the South Carolina government. She was the Director of the Labor Department from 2011 to 2012, and then had a rocky tenure as the leader for DHEC until January 2015. Since then, she’s been the president of Brawley Templeton LLC, a government relations firm. She was also briefly a member of the State Ports Authority in 2015.
Here’s a look at Templeton’s career.
1. Templeton Met With Trump in New York in December
Templeton’s LinkedIn profile photo. (LinkedIn)
Templeton was spotted at Trump Tower in New York on December 5. Jason Miller, who was Trump’s spokesman at the time, told the Post and Courier that she was singled out for her “significant public and private sector experience with labor relations.”
Templeton never spoke about the details of that meeting with Trump and it’s not clear if she was being considered for Labor Secretary at that time, or another position within that department. She did tell the Associated Press at the time that she wanted to “help our new president in any way I can,” adding, “Mr. Trump wanted to hear from a business person who’s been on the inside and achieved government reforms at the local level — where it is felt most.”
Puzder was nominated for Labor Secretary, but he withdrew his nomination on February 15 after tape of his ex-wife accusing him of domestic violence on Oprah Winfrey surfaced.
2. She Was Supposed to Announce a Run for Governor in 2018, But Still Hasn’t
Since November, Templeton has been teasing an announcement that she will run for Governor of South Carolina, but still hasn’t done so. In November, she told the Post and Courier that she was running, but hadn’t filed her paperwork yet.
“Everything South Carolina needs is within our grasp if government would simply operate properly and mostly just get out of our way,” Templeton, who has never held elective office before, told the paper.
The Post and Courier reported that Charleston real estate investor John Rivers, Jr. sent letters to potential donors, asking them to attend a special fundraiser on January 11, 2017. Templeton was expected to make her announcement then.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, she later sent the Post and Courier a message, pushing back her announcement until the spring.
This decision came as Trump’s decision to tap Nikki Haley as his ambassador to the U.N. shuffled things around in South Carolina. Interim South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is expected to run in 2018. So far, McMaster’s only declared opponent is former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill, who is now a Republican.
3. Templeton Is a Self-Proclaimed ‘Union Buster’ Who Doesn’t Think They are Needed
If Templeton is nominated to be Labor Secretary, she would face a tough line of questioning from Democrats over her staunch anti-union stance. In an interview with The State in early February when workers at a Boeing plant in North Charleston were set to vote on joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the self-proclaimed “union buster” said they are antiquated because of Labor Department regulations.
“They are not needed,” she told The State. “We have passed a myriad of labor laws that make them unnecessary. Occupational and Safety Health Administration, the Equal Pay Act, child labor laws, immigration laws, wage and hour laws, the Equal Opportunity Act, Human Relations Commission, and more. And then there are the courts.”
“When you have employers like we do in South Carolina, unions are not needed,” she added.
On February 15, the workers at the Boeing plant voted against joining the union.
4. Templeton’s Tenure at DHEC Was Eventful, Including a Botched Tuberculosis Investigation
Templeton hasn’t worked in government since she resigned from the DHEC in January 2015, launching speculation that she would run for office at the time. As The State noted, Templeton’s nearly three-year tenure at the agency included some successes, like a campaign against obesity and praise from business leaders for cutting down on regulations. However, there were a few notable failures.
One of these was a tuberculosis investigation in Ninety Six, South Carolina. The State notes that the agency knew for over two months that a school employee there had the illness, but didn’t inform parents until May 2013. Fifty students tested positive for TB and the DHEC had to fire several employees who were slow to act.
Templeton was also criticized for how she handled a toxic waste dump near Lake Marion. She forced a consulting firm to quit overseeing the dump, claiming that the company spent too much money. But Kestrel Horizons LLC revealed to The State that the DHEC ignored its concerns about toxic waste leaks dating back to 2004.
In November 2014, The Herald reported that Templeton ended up asking the South Carolina Government to spend $3.4 million annually in protecting Lake Marion.
5. Templeton Now Runs a Government Relations Firm Called Brawley Templeton, LLC
After leaving the DHEC, Templeton became created Brawley Templeton, LLC, according to her LinkedIn page. The company specializes in “Government and Industry projects increasing Operational Efficiencies and Cost Savings,” according to her profile.
Templeton was also on the State Ports Authority for just five weeks. “She has determined that this position does not meet her career goals. Plans on future staffing of these functions are in progress,” the Charleston-based agency told the Post and Courier.
“I am grateful that Catherine had the willingness to join our organization and give us the benefit of her expertise in her brief time with us,” ports authority CEO Jim Newsome told the Post and Courier.