The House Education and Workforce Committee has scheduled a vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule. The rule aims to impose a fiduciary standard on financial professionals who sell retirement products. The Insured Retirement Institute has criticized the rule as a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
They are urging committee members to approve the disapproval resolution. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn rules issued by a presidential administration through a joint resolution of disapproval.
Committee to vote on fiduciary rule
The resolution must pass the House and Senate and be signed by the President, or Congress must override a presidential veto. The House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies has also approved funding legislation that would prevent the Labor Department from using any funds to administer, implement, or enforce the new fiduciary rule. Nine insurance trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the Labor Department in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
They argue that the department rushed the adoption of the new fiduciary rule without meeting federal Administrative Procedure Act requirements or adequately analyzing impact data in the cost-benefit analysis. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Financial Services Institute have joined the lawsuit. They, along with the Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice and several independent insurance agents, are seeking to delay the implementation of the fiduciary rule until ongoing legal challenges are resolved.
