The federal government is seeking more time for Trump administration officials to review a consolidated lawsuit seeking to overturn the Department of Labor’s Biden-era fiduciary investment advice rule.
The Department of Justice, on behalf of the DOL, filed a motion April 14 with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans seeking an additional 60 days so Trump administration officials can familiarize themselves with the pending litigation.
“DOL has informed us that new agency officials require additional time to decide how to proceed in these appeals,” the DOJ said in the filing. “Because any action taken by the agency could affect the litigation, the government respectfully requests that the abeyance be extended for a further 60 days to June 16, 2025.”
The court in February approved the government’s initial request and paused the cases for 60 days until April 15. Both motions were unopposed by the parties challenging the rule, which include insurance and annuity groups.
In April 2024, the DOL under the Biden administration finalized the Retirement Security Rule, which, among other things, changed the five-part test so one-time advice, such as rollovers to IRAs or annuity purchases, must be in an investor’s best interest.
Biden-era officials said the rule was needed to better protect retirement savers and was more narrowly tailored than a 2016 Obama-era rule, which swept up virtually any recommendation to a retirement investor, that was struck down in 2018 by the 5th Circuit.
Insurance and annuity groups filed two separate lawsuits challenging the rule, and in July, two U.S. District Court judges stopped implementation of the rule, which was slated to take effect in September.
Those lawsuits are now consolidated and before the 5th Circuit. The DOL during the Biden administration appealed the District Court decisions, but the new administration may change course.
While a member of the House last year, now newly confirmed Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in July voted against a resolution to overturn the DOL’s rule.
Separately, President Donald Trump in February nominated Daniel Aronowitz, president of Encore Fiduciary, a fiduciary liability insurance underwriting company, to lead the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. A Senate confirmation hearing date for Aronowitz has yet to be announced.
