06.03.25

Labor Leaders Demand Transparency on ERISA Advisory Council

WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, demanding answers regarding the removal of documents and records produced by the expert ERISA Advisory Council.  The letter also inquiries about the Administration’s intentions concerning the future of the Council, emphasizing that any attempt to eliminate it would be inconsistent with federal law. 

For five decades, the ERISA Advisory Council has provided critical expertise and recommendations to the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, which is charged with protecting the health care, disability, and retirement benefits of more than 153 million workers, retirees, and their families. The Advisory Council’s latest contributions, before the Trump Administration’s opaque document purge, included a series of public meetings discussing retirement investment options and consumers’ rights to appeal wrongful denials of health care benefits by insurance companies. 

“We were deeply troubled to learn the Department has, without explanation, erased from its website numerous records regarding the Council’s activities in 2024 and reportedly placed the Council ‘on ice.”

The Members added, “The functions of the ERISA Advisory Council are clearly specified in federal law, and the Trump Administration has no authority to ignore these requirements.”

The Department has yet to convene the first of the four legally required meetings of the Council this year.  It has also removed numerous records from its website pertaining to the Council’s activities in 2024, including Issue Statements and Witness Statements, without providing any explanation.  These actions have called into question the Administration's commitment to upholding its legal obligations set forth under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).  The Committee leaders are requesting that Secretary Chavez-DeRemer explain the Department's actions, provide the Committee with copies of all relevant documents, and clarify the future of the ERISA Advisory Council. 

To read the full letter, click here. 

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