Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), and Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Members of the House Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement on today’s announcement that the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule will be initially implemented after the conclusion of the current 60-day delay.

“For years, Democrats have championed this common sense rule because it simply ensures workers and families aren’t ripped off when investing their hard-earned retirement savings. That’s why we fought against Congressional Republicans’ repeated efforts to undermine the rule, and that’s why we opposed the Trump Administration’s misguided effort to delay the rule’s initial implementation. While we are pleased Secretary Acosta appropriately decided to abide by the law and initially implement the fiduciary rule at the end of the of the current 60-day delay, we are concerned that the Trump Administration may continue its efforts to significantly weaken the rule. Secretary Acosta stated that the Labor Department will be seeking additional public input on the entire rule, and the Labor Department acknowledged that additional changes will possibly be proposed. Today’s positive development clearly isn’t the end of fight. We will continue to vigorously oppose any future efforts by the Trump Administration or House Republicans to delay, weaken, or undermine this critical protection for America’s workers and families.”

In his Wall Street Journal op-ed, Secretary Acosta noted that the DOL “has concluded it is necessary to seek additional public input on the entire Fiduciary Rule.” However, the Obama Administration conducted a thorough, thoughtful, and transparent process in finalizing the rule. Specifically, the Obama Administration’s DOL conducted a “comment period lasting over five months and received extensive feedback in four days of public hearings, over 3,000 comment letters (as well as over 300,000 petitions), and more than 100 meetings with stakeholders.” Also, when the Trump Administration proposed its 60-day delay of the rule, the DOL received 178,000 petitions and comments opposing any delay to the fiduciary rule, while 15,000 commenters supported some sort of delay or repeal.

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