Politics Delays Puzder’s Hearing
President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, Andrew Puzdner will have to wait a little while longer as Democrats successfully delay the Labor Secretary’s Senate hearing for a fourth time. Retirement industry professionals hoping to get some clarity on any potential changes in the Department of Labor (DOL) rule will likely have to wait longer.
The appointment of Puzder to the position of Labor Secretary is expected to be successful, however, political posturing by Senate Democrats has created a backlog in the hearings process as only 3 Cabinet positions were filled until today when the Senate invoked emergency measure to approve Secretaries Mnuchin and Price after Democrats boycotted Senate panels for the second straight day.
With the DOL Rule deadline rapidly approaching, industry professionals are preparing for compliance as any changes are likely to be last minute at best. Originally scheduled for Jan 12, Puzder’s hearing was delayed because of a technicality over paperwork raised by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and the top Democrat on the Senate HELP committee
Senate Democrats have taken a position of statutory objection to virtually all of Trump’s Cabinet nominees so it is expected that they will attempt to delay Puzder’s hearing indefinitely.
“I’ve been very concerned to see Republicans trying to jam nominees with extensive financial entanglements through the committee process, so to be clear: If and when Mr. Puzder does produce paperwork and his hearing is rescheduled, I will expect a date to be set that allows plenty of time to thoroughly review his documents,” said Murray in a prepared statement.
