Eugene Scalia testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee during his confirmation hearing to become Secretary of the U.S. Labor Department, on Thursday, September 19, 2019. (Photo: Diego Radzinschi/ALM) Eugene Scalia testifies before the Senate HELP Committee during his confirmation hearing to become Labor secretary. (Photo: Diego Radzinschi/ALM)

Eugene Scalia, President Trump's nominee to head the Labor Department, said Thursday that he would, if confirmed, "seek guidance from the designated ethics official" at Labor as to his ability to participate in crafting a fiduciary rule.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, stated to Scalia during the Thursday nomination hearing that he's "had a lot of work in overturning the [now vacated Obama administration fiduciary] rule." She then asked Scalia: "Would you recuse yourself from participating in DOL's forthcoming revised fiduciary rule because of that?"

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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.