Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Republican Leader Rick Allen sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh opposing DOL’s proposed rule, which prioritizes the interests of left-wing special interests, including the green lobby and union bosses, over those of American workers and retirees.
In the letter, the Members write: “The proposed rule upends important protections for retirement plan participants and beneficiaries finalized by the Department in 2020. The 2020 financial factors rule and proxy voting rule updated the investment duties regulation to clarify that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) prohibits fiduciaries from subordinating the financial interests of retirement plan participants to non-financial agendas, which threaten retirement savings. We are disappointed by the proposed rule, which abandons the purpose of ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty to plan participants and inappropriately injects political objectives into retirement savings decisions.”
The Members conclude: “…we are extremely concerned that the Biden administration is jeopardizing the retirement savings of Americans to ‘steer private capital to implement an agenda they can’t pass through Congress.’ It is incumbent on DOL to ensure its policies and regulatory guidance are consistent with the fundamental tenets of ERISA and the mission of EBSA—to protect the retirement savings of America’s workers and their families… We therefore request that the Department immediately rescind the proposed rule and begin enforcing the existing rules, which prioritize the financial interests of workers and retirees.”
Full text of the letter to Secretary Walsh is available here.
