House Committee advances bill to overturn DOL’s new fiduciary rule
The House Education and the Workforce Committee voted Wednesday to advance a resolution to overturn the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule, which is also facing two lawsuits filed in federal courts.
The House Committee joint resolution of disapproval was introduced by Congressman Rick Allen (GA). “The Biden Administration has shown that it is out of touch with reality by finalizing such an overly restrictive fiduciary rule that complicates financial planning through excessive regulation,” said Allen.
The DOL’s Retirement Security Rule was finalized in April and scheduled to take effect September 23. It would extend fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to one-time recommendations to retirement investors. This would include recommendations such as rollovers and annuity sales.
Congress, through the Congressional Review Act (CRA), may review and choose to reject new regulations issue by federal agencies and has a window of 60 days to act on a joint resolution to take advantage of CRA’s “fast track” procedures.
The DOL is also facing two lawsuits in federal courts challenging the fiduciary rule. When the new rule was finalized April 23, industry observers expected many lawsuits to follow.
The first legal challenge came just days later in a lawsuit filed by the Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice, a trade organization whose members are independent marketing organizations, insurance agents and agencies that market fixed insurance products including annuities.
That lawsuit said the DOL’s new definition of investment advice fiduciary is virtually indistinguishable from its 2026 Fiduciary Rule, which was struck down by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018.
In early July, the Financial Services Institute and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association joined a federal lawsuit filed in May in the Northern District of Texas, seeking to strike down the DOL rule that unlawfully expands the definition of a “fiduciary” and jeopardizes investors’ access to advice and education.
Related: DOL defends new fiduciary rule in lawsuit brought by insurance industry group
Wednesday’s House Committee vote was supported by the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI). “This rule improperly and unnecessarily expands ‘fiduciary’ status to nearly all financial professionals who provide retirement guidance and imposes substantial new barriers that will impede consumer access to accurate information about retirement products,” said Wayne Chopus, President and CEO of IRI.