WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Congressman Darin LaHood released the following statement on President Trump’s executive order to halt the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule. This rule, which was set to be implemented in April, would reclassify and expand the scope of individuals that are considered “financial advisers” for purposes of Federal regulation— subjecting more people to even more stringent regulations.
“I am heartened by President Trump’s executive order to pause the Fiduciary Rule and halt its implementation. The Fiduciary rule would be especially devastating back home in my district where various financial service firms and their agents, such as State Farm, offer services and products to help low and moderate-income investors make the best decisions about their finances. The largest causality of this rule, however, would be the hard working middle-class families that rely on those affordable services for financial planning. In its current form, the Fiduciary rule would have tied the hands of financial advisors so they would not be able to honestly advise their clients. With this executive order, President Trump cuts those restraints loose to ensure that hardworking Americans have access to retirement advice so they can financially plan for their future.”
By reclassifying certain financial services so that the Department of Labor could regulate them, the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary rule would have raised compliance costs, limited the advice that companies can provide to their own employees, and penalized small businesses who want to provide their employees with a 401(k) plan. The executive order President Trump signed on February 3rd delays the implementation of the rule by 180 days and directs the U.S. Labor Department to conduct an economic and legal analysis of the regulation so its impact can be further studied.
