House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday to overturn the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, a day before the rule’s effective date.

Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy, introduced the Affordable Retirement Advice for Savers Act.

The lawmakers said in introducing the bill that it would “protect access to affordable retirement advice by overturning the Obama administration’s flawed fiduciary rule while ensuring retirement advisors serve the best interests of their clients.”

“For years, we’ve been working to stop a flawed fiduciary rule that would make it harder for low- and middle-income families to save for retirement,” Roe said in a statement. “The Obama administration made a reckless, unnecessary trade-off between strong protections for retirement savers and access to affordable retirement advice. This legislation reflects a more responsible solution that will ensure all Americans have access to affordable retirement advice that’s in their best interest.”

Roskman added that the bill "is about helping Americans of all walks of life, at every income level, save for retirement. It protects access to quality, affordable financial advice and creates more choices so families in Chicagoland and across the country can find the tools that help them plan for their futures. This bill encourages more people to save and helps ensure advisors always serve the best interests of their clients.”

H.R. 2823 overturns Labor’s fiduciary rule, while requiring financial advisors to serve their clients’ best interests and enhancing “transparency and accountability through clear, simple and relevant disclosure requirements,” the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers also argued their bill allows small-business owners to continue receiving the help they need to provide retirement plans for their employees.

Roe led a May 2nd letter to Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta calling for a “permanent delay” of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

Acosta reiterated to members of the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday that "this administration looked at whether [the fiduciary rule] should be postponed further and concluded that there was no basis to postpone” the June 9 effective date “any further.” The rule, he told lawmakers, “is being looked at.”

Labor released Wednesday morning a request for information seeking public input on potential further changes to its fiduciary rule. The RFI was posted on the Office of Management and Budget’s website.

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Melanie Waddell

Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.