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It’s Official: Rutledge Nominated as EBSA Head

President Trump has officially announced his intent to nominate Preston Rutledge to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Rutledge currently serves as senior tax and benefits counsel on the Majority Tax Staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where his responsibilities include employee benefits, retirement issues, tax-exempt organizations, health tax issues, and the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Previously 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.

Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association, noted that “Mr. Rutledge’s broad experience and extensive retirement policy background makes him uniquely qualified to hold the position of EBSA Assistant Secretary. The American Retirement Association will be submitting a letter to the U.S. Senate strongly endorsing his nomination.”

If confirmed, Rutledge would replace former Assistant Secretary Phyllis Borzi, who served for eight years in the Obama administration. As EBSA assistant secretary, one of the top items on Rutledge’s agenda would be overseeing the implementation of, and any potential changes to, the fiduciary rule.

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