Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement

Education & the Workforce Committee Makes 3rd Info Request to Perez

Will the third time be the charm? House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) in a June 2 letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez have again repeated a request for additional information concerning the DOL’s proposal to expand the definition of fiduciary.

Kline and Roe seek documents and communications concerning coordination between the DOL and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the time that the DOL was drafting and revising the proposed regulations. Says the letter: “As you know from our previous inquiries, the Committee is concerned with the potential impact of this complex initiative on workers and retirees and believes any rulemaking on this matter should be the product of coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

This is not the first such request. The committee notes that it has made two already, on March 4 and 24, 2015.

Kline and Roe dispute the DOL’s contention that since its communications with the SEC were part of the deliberative process, they are shielded from congressional oversight. They say: “The claim is particularly inappropriate in this case where the materials sought involve communications between different agencies. Indeed, the administration has specifically publicized its coordination with the SEC (including claims that SEC provided significant technical assistance) both in its responses to our earlier inquiries and in public relations information disseminated by the Department. It defies explanation that DOL would assert publicly that coordination with the SEC took place and yet refuse to release documents substantiating its assertion.”

Kline and Roe request that the DOL provide communications that took place between it and the SEC on this matter after Sept. 19, 2011, as well as associated documents, by June 16. They also request that the DOL submit a log that identifies documents that may be relevant.