Ranking Members Scott, Sanders, and Warren Slam Trump Administration Plan to Open Americans’ Hard-Earned Retirement Savings to Private Equity and Cryptocurrency

Ranking Members Scott, Sanders, and Warren Slam Trump Administration Plan to Open Americans' Hard-Earned Retirement Savings to Private Equity and Cryptocurrency

WASHINGTON - Today, House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) urged the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to rescind its proposal to allow private equity, digital assets, private credit, and other "alternative assets" to be included in 401(k) plans.

"Workers today are too often retiring into poverty, if they can afford to retire at all, while the wealthy benefit from retirement tax breaks. Federal efforts to expand retirement income must prioritize cost-effectiveness, stability, and safety to avoid exposing seniors to major losses and financial instability. But the DOL's proposal would compound, rather than address, the problem," wrote the Ranking Members.

DOL is seeking to make available the estimated $14.2 trillion workers do have in retirement savings to private equity, digital assets, private credit, high-cost annuities, and other types of alternative investments. These investments have more expensive fees and are more complex, opaque, and volatile than traditional 401(k) plans-exposing seniors to greater financial risk.

The Ranking Members also called out President Trump and his family's glaring conflicts of interests: "In the midst of these egregious conflicts, the DOL's proposed rule has the potential to boost the President's bottom line at the expense of ordinary workers and retirees."

According to the Wall Street Journal, since the start of this Administration "the Trump family notched as much as $5 billion in paper wealth… after its flagship crypto venture opened trading of a new digital currency." Similarly, President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is representing the U.S. government in negotiations in the Middle East while "simultaneously seeking to raise at least $5 billion in additional foreign capital for his private equity firm."

To read the full letter, click here.

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