Rutledge to Depart EBSA

Assistant Secretary of Labor Preston Rutledge is planning to leave his post at the end of May.

Rutledge was nominated to the post in October 2017 by President Trump. He was confirmed by voice vote of the Senate later that same year.

His tenure included a number of significant regulatory advances, including Association Retirement Plans and an e-delivery safe harbor regulation, currently under review at the Office of Management and Budget, as well as working on clarifications and regulations emerging from the passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) and, more recently the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Before heading up the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), Rutledge was senior tax and benefits counsel on the Majority Tax Staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where his responsibilities included employee benefits, retirement issues, tax-exempt organizations, health tax issues, and the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to that he served as a senior tax law specialist on the Headquarters Staff of the IRS' Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division and as a senior technical reviewer in the Qualified Pension Plans Branch of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. During his tenure there, he was the recipient of an Office of Chief Counsel National Award.

He also served as a law clerk on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked in private law practice as an employee benefits counselor and ERISA litigator. Rutledge earned a B.S. in business, cum laude, from the University of Idaho; J.D., with high honors, from the George Washington University School of Law; and an L.L.M. in taxation, with distinction, including a certificate in employee benefits law, from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Though an official announcement has not yet been made, Rutledge’s decision to leave his current post was confirmed by several sources. His future plans are undisclosed.

“Preston will definitely be missed in his capacity as Assistant Secretary of Labor,” noted Brian H. Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association. “His in-depth knowledge of ERISA has led to significant regulations including ARPs and the hopefully soon to be forthcoming e-disclosure regulation, which will save 401(k) participants hundreds of millions of dollars a year in unnecessary fees. The ARA wishes him well in his future endeavors.”