Senate Could Vote Next Week On Lisa Gomez Nomination To Lead EBSA

Lisa Gomez could get a long-awaited vote next week on confirmation to lead the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has filed a motion to limit floor debate on the Gomez's nomination to head the agency. A partner in the law firm of Cohen, Weiss and Simon, Gomez has specialized in employee benefits law.

She was initially nominated to serve as EBSA head by President Joe Biden in July 2021, but her nomination fell into a strange bureaucratic limbo.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee first sent her nomination to the full Senate in December on a party line vote, 12-10. But the full body never took it up. According to Senate rules, nominations that were not voted on during a session of Congress must start over. Biden re-submitted Gomez's nomination in January and the HELP Committee again voted to send the nomination to the full Senate, 12-9.

EBSA is a crucial agency overseeing important regulation of retirement plans. Regulators are busy working on a new definition of "fiduciary," an effort the industry is concerned about.

Ali Khawar is principal deputy assistant secretary for the EBSA. He addressed the agency's regulatory work Thursday at the Insured Retirement Institute's annual conference.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.