Today the U.S. Senate will vote on a resolution designed to repeal the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation.
If approved (and, as noted below, that’s by no means an easy lift), the resolution of disapproval would allow Congress to stop the Department of Labor from implementing the fiduciary regulation.
Under the Congressional Review Act, the House and Senate vote on a joint resolution of disapproval to stop, with the full force of law, a federal agency from implementing a rule or regulation or issuing a substantially similar regulation without congressional authorization.
A resolution of disapproval only needs a simple majority to pass and cannot be filibustered or amended, if acted upon during a 60-day window. The resolution of disapproval must also be signed by the president or Congress can overturn a veto with a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
In the current Congress, and with the president firmly behind the Labor Department on the fiduciary regulation, the resolution wouldn’t seem to have much chance. In fact, the president has already said he would veto the resolution, were it to get to his desk.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the resolution last month in a vote along party lines.
