House Panel to Vote on Resolution to Kill DOL Fiduciary Rule

The House Education and Workforce Committee has scheduled for Wednesday a vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution to disapprove the Labor Department’s new fiduciary rule, according to a notice on the committee’s website.

The Insured Retirement Institute, which calls the rule an “attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all fiduciary standard on virtually all financial professionals who sell retirement products,” said that it was urging committee members to approve it.

The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn rules issued by a presidential administration through a joint resolution of disapproval. The resolution must pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president, or Congress must override the president’s veto.

More Congressional Moves

On June 26, the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies passed by voice vote funding legislation for fiscal year 2025 that would prevent Labor from using any funds to administer, implement or enforce its new fiduciary rule and related prohibited transaction exemptions.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the appropriations measure.

The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., held a hearing June 27 to examine the policies and priorities of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Lisa Gomez, head of EBSA, testified.

Lawsuits Filed

Nine insurance trade groups filed a suit on May 24 to torpedo Labor’s new rule in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The groups accused the department of rushing to adopt the new retirement investment advice fiduciary definition regulations without meeting federal Administrative Procedure Act requirements, and without analyzing impact data in an adequate way while conducting a cost-benefit analysis. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association along with the Financial Services Institute joined via a plaintiff-intervenors’ complaint the insurance groups’ suit, asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas court to vacate the rule.

The Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice and several independent insurance agents filed for a preliminary injunction on May 22 in federal court, seeking to force the Labor Department to delay implementation of its new fiduciary rule.

The filing — the group’s second — in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas argues that Labor’s rule will cause too much damage if it goes into effect, so the court needs to delay its implementation until FACC’s existing case against Labor’s PTE 2020-02 on rollover advice is resolved.