House Democrats Ask DOL Inspector General to Probe ERISA Advisory Council

Two Democratic lawmakers are seeking a probe by the Department of Labor’s Inspector General into the status of the department’s ERISA Advisory Council, which has been effectively put on pause for more than a year.

Representative Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Representative Mark DeSaulnier, D-California, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, sent the request in a letter dated Tuesday after allegedly failing to receive answers from the DOL about the group’s status.

The advisory council was created by Congress in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act as a permanent advisory body working with the DOL.

Early in the second Trump administration, amid widespread efforts to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy, the ERISA Advisory Council was reportedly “on ice.”

Former members of the ERISA Advisory Council told PLANSPONSOR that there were no council meetings in 2025, and the DOL did not disclose to members why there were no meetings. Some said they received notifications that their terms had expired or they were terminated.

The latest list of members, also from 2024, indicates that all members had completed, or would complete their terms between 2024 and 2026. The council last released a report in June 2025 based on items presented to EBSA at the end of 2024.

“It makes absolutely no sense to me,” says Lisa Gomez, who served as head of EBSA under then-President Joe Biden when the council was last active and is now president of LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions. “It’s surprising and unfortunate that the DOL is not responding even to members of Congress asking about this.”

Gomez says the DOL does not appear to be replacing council members, and the council is likely to have a second year of dormancy.“It’s not as if they can just start up again tomorrow,” she says.

The council typically consists of 15 members from the private sector appointed by the U.S. secretary of labor. The membership is meant to be bipartisan, representing employers, investment managers and other segments of industry and the public covered by ERISA.

Other Regulators Lack Quorum

The inactivity extends beyond the ERISA Advisory Council. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Advisory Committee, which was also created by ERISA and typically has seven members, currently only has one. The committee functions like the ERISA council, representing interests for employers and the public concerning the PBGC and advising on investment policy and other matters, according to the PBGC’s website. The president is supposed to appoint members to the PBGC advisory group.

Federal regulators are also missing a quorum among their leadership. The Securities and Exchange Commission has operated with only three commissioners since the start of 2026, instead of the five commissioners required by the Securities Exchange Act. President Donald Trump is legally required to nominate commissioners with the advice of the Senate, but he has not filled the two empty seats.

Similarly, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates markets including futures, swaps and certain options, has only one commissioner, rather than the five required by the Commodity Exchange Act. Its members are also supposed to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Last year, a bill that would add two members to the ERISA advisory council to represent employee stock ownership plans passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

The DOL did not return a request for comment.