Congress Gets Rolling on Trump Cabinet Confirmations

In the meantime, "we think clients should not count on the rule's death – but it's on thin ice, with an increasingly good chance of delay."

Meanwhile, Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Missouri, a staunch opponent of DOL's fiduciary rule who was recently appointed to head the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in the 115^th Congress, has already vowed that Republican lawmakers would "renew their fight" after Trump's inauguration to "dismantle or delay" Labor's fiduciary rule.

Wagner has also proposed the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act, which would make it more difficult for the agency to promulgate rules. The bill could come up for a vote this week. The full House could also vote on a broader regulatory easing bill, the Regulatory Accountability Act, later in the week. 

As Justin Schardin, head director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative, noted in a recent blog, President-elect Donald Trump will have "a lot of vacancies to fill at the 10 independent financial regulatory agencies and his choices could have a major impact on the regulation of Wall Street."

Across the 10 agencies – which includes the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – there are 34 Senate-confirmable positions that are held by 28 individuals, Schardin notes.

Besides the two open commissioner seats at the SEC, current Democratic appointee Kara Stein's term expires in June. A confirmation hearing for Sullivan and Cromwell Partner Jay Clayton to be the new head of the SEC has yet to be scheduled.  

SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar, a Republican, will likely serve as interim chair. Filling vacant positions at the SEC, Schardin writes, "may be the top priority, in part because once [current SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo] White leaves [in January], the commission will require the support of all of its remaining members to conduct business."