Update: On September 18, Daniel Aronowitz was confirmed by the Senate to the role of Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration. Notably, rather than receiving an individual vote, Aronowitz was confirmed as part of a package of 48 total Trump nominees for roles all across the federal government. Senate Republicans recently changed procedural rules of the Senate to allow voting for or against the confirmation of large groups of nominees en masse, without a numerical limit on how many nominees can be voted on at one time. This will effectively limit debate and accountability on votes for individual nominees, and prevent the opposition party from blocking many individual nominees. However, this procedure will be limited to nominees for lower- and mid-level executive branch nominees, sub-Cabinet level positions, and ambassadorships. It also cannot be used to confirm judicial nominees.
President Trump has nominated Daniel Aronowitz to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). EBSA works with other agencies to enforce laws protecting workers in employee benefit plans, such as employer-provided health insurance or retirement savings benefits. Aronowitz is president of a company that insures employers against liability for violating their fiduciary duty as sponsors of employee benefit plans, for example by failing to protect 401(k) plan participants from high fees. In a 2024 blog post, Aronowitz complained about “frivolous” litigation filed on behalf of benefit plan participants, saying that enforcing employee protections should be the job of government regulators, not trial lawyers. However, the Trump Administration has embarked on a campaign to dismantle much of the federal workforce, including regulators. If confirmed, Aronowitz would be responsible for enforcing EBSA’s 2024 retirement security rule, which would have protected 401(k) participants from receiving bad investment advice from financial professionals with conflicts of interest. However, this rule was attacked in the courts by the financial services industry, and the Department of Labor (DOL) has already petitioned for a pause in defending the rule in court.