the chain gang

Hillary Clinton Reportedly Wanted Howard Schultz As Her Labor Secretary

“Secretary Schultz” does kind of have a nice ring to it. Photo: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

Veteran political reporter Mike Allen today published what he says were Hillary Clinton’s “prospective cabinet and West Wing staff,” and on her “astonishingly specific” list (for someone who hadn’t won yet) was Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as head of the Labor Department. Allen also says Schultz’s fellow Cabinet members would have included Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg at either Commerce or Treasury, and maybe fellow #PizzaGater John Podesta as secretary of state.

Schultz, of course, was a vocal Clinton supporter (and at one point, hacked emails released by Wikileaks even said he was on her shortlist for vice-president). The big irony of him at Labor, though, is that while far friendlier to workers than Trump’s pick Andy Puzder, the fast-food CEO who prefers robots to human staff, Schultz isn’t a huge fan of organized labor either. Still, while he also says he had “no intention” of trying to become the actual president, a cabinet job might’ve been just right, now that he’s taking a backseat at Starbucks. Plus, if Secretary Puzder’s agency ends up being the giant “middle finger to wage earners” it’s predicted to be, Americans might not think solving federal labor disputes by writing stuff on cups sounds so bad after all.

Clinton Reportedly Wanted Starbucks CEO As Labor Secretary