HOUSE COMMITTEE TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION TO DISAPPROVE DOL’S HARMFUL ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL FIDUCIARY RULE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Education and the Workforce Committee will vote today on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to disapprove the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) latest attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all fiduciary standard on virtually all financial professionals who sell retirement products. The resolution, H.J. Res. 142, is sponsored by Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) and has 31 cosponsors.

The CRA is a law that authorizes Congress to review final adopted federal agency rules. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, the rule at issue cannot go into effect or continue in effect.

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) supports passage of the resolution and urges Committee members to vote to advance the measure to the House floor.

“This rule improperly and unnecessarily expands ‘fiduciary’ status to nearly all financial professionals who provide retirement guidance and imposes substantial new barriers that will impede consumer access to accurate information about retirement products,” said Wayne Chopus, President and CEO of IRI. “It is substantially similar to the ill-advised 2016 rule and will have a similar negative impact on low- and middle-income workers. In its rush to adopt this rule, the DOL ignored sound evidence of its harmful effects as well as the actions taken by federal and state regulators since 2020 to enhance the regulation of financial professionals.”

Before it was struck down by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the 2016 regulation resulted in more than 10 million American workers’ accounts with $900 billion in savings losing access to reliable information and guidance regarding retirement products.

“This DOL regulation represents a blatant disregard for the Fifth Circuit’s decision and puts millions of consumers at risk of losing access to needed financial guidance to help them navigate to a secure and dignified retirement,” Chopus said. “We urge the Committee to protect consumers and advance this CRA resolution.”

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Contact: Dan Zielinski