The rule will not be made public until after that process, but Covington said the IRI and other stakeholders will meet with the OMB after it receives the rule. 

"We're hopeful we'll be able to get information about the rule during that process," he said.

Covington added that the OMB's vetting may take fewer than the prescribed 90 days, or it may take more. 

While the IRI doesn't yet know what the rule will contain, Covington did note the Obama administration's previous acknowledgment of the potential unintended consequence of limiting access to retirement advice that could come with a universal fiduciary standard. 

Covington's remarks came during and after a conference call Tuesday laying out the IRI's 2015 regulatory agenda. 

Earlier Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, reiterated his intention to push for passage of his Secure Annuities for Employee Retirement Act, which he said the Finance Committee "will take up in this Congress."

Among other provisions, the SAFE Act would torpedo the DOL's efforts to put IRA advice under a fiduciary standard.

The legislation, Hatch said, "ensures that hardworking Americans will continue to have affordable access to professional investment advice by restoring jurisdiction over the IRA fiduciary duty rule to the Treasury Department."

Last week, a coalition of labor unions and consumer advocacy groups announced a new campaign aimed at generating public support for a comprehensive fiduciary standard. The group unveiled a website, saveourretirement.com, as part of its effort. 

"We've seen the website," said Covington. "Unfortunately it contains hyperbole and inflammatory language." 

Critics of a universal fiduciary standard argue that making all securities brokers beholden to the standard of care established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act would drive the financial services industry away from providing advice to lower- and middle-income Americans. 

The DOL's original proposed rule would have left 18 million individual IRA investors out in the cold and encouraged 30 percent of small businesses to drop retirement plans, according to industry estimates cited by Covington. 

Also read: Navigating the minefield of fiduciary liability

During the conference call, Covington and Cathy Weatherford, president and CEO of the IRI, suggested there is wide bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for many core retirement reforms. 

Weatherford also said the insurers, asset managers and broker-dealers the IRI represents "have a lot of common ground with the (Obama) administration." 

She applauded the president's MyRA saving initiative, introduced in last year's State of the Union address, as well as the effort at the departments of Treasury and Labor to break down barriers to lifetime income products inside qualified employer-sponsored retirement plans. 

Items on the IRI's 2015 regulatory agenda that have support on both sides of the aisle in Congress include continued efforts to make lifetime income products more accessible in retirement plans, expanding access to multiple employer plans (the IRI is lobbying the plans be required to offer annuity options), requiring lifetime income projections in benefits statements, and increasing auto-enrollment and escalation default rates.

"We're happy the president is focusing on retirement security. The differences come on how to best achieve those goals," Weatherford said. 

One clear difference was expected to be announced in Tuesday's State of the Union, as the president will propose that contributions to tax-deferred retirement plans and IRAs be capped once balances reach $3.4 million, which would provide an annual income of $210,000 in retirement, according to fact sheet released in advance of the president's speech. 

That idea will likely be a source of friction with the financial services lobby. Maintaining the current tax-deferred treatment of retirement savings is at the top of the IRI's 2015 regulatory agenda. 

Also read: Congressional priority? Hatch retirement reforms

"Through all of our research, tax deferral is a powerful tool," said Weatherford. "Three in four baby boomers consider tax deferrals as an important feature when they choose a retirement vehicle." 

Covington added that it's important that the debate not confuse tax deferrals with tax deductions. 

"Many studies show that deferring income actually enhances tax revenue in the future," he said.