Trump Names Ex-EEOC Chair as Acting Top Benefits Regulator (1)

Janet Dhillon has been named acting assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, according to a US Labor Department email obtained by Bloomberg Law.

Dhillon, who is awaiting confirmation to serve as the director of the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corp., will temporarily run the DOL agency with regulatory authority over the nation’s private-sector health insurance and retirement plans.

EBSA sets minimum standards for the health, welfare, and retirement benefits worth trillions of dollars that more than 153 million workers and retirees receive from their employers. The agency during Trump’s second term is poised to decide the fate of a suite of Biden-era policies applying strict fiduciary duties to rollover retirement advice and bringing parity to mental health benefits.

Dhillon, a Republican, served as chair of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during President Donald Trump’s first term. Since her PBGC nomination, she’s been working in the DOL’s solicitor’s office.

She was the top lawyer for at least four Fortune 500 companies, including US Airways Group Inc., Dollar Tree Inc., Burlington Stores Inc., and JCPenney Co. Inc.

Fiduciary insurance executive Daniel Aronowitz is awaiting Senate confirmation to lead EBSA. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to consider his nomination June 26.

Dhillon’s nomination to be head of the PBGC, which insures private sector pensions, is awaiting full Senate confirmation after she advanced through committee in May.

EBSA is one of several DOL agencies the administration has tasked with redoubling its efforts to offer subregulatory guidance and free legal advice. The agency of little more than 800 workers would slash nearly 50 full-time positions and cut funding by $1 million under Trump’s outstanding budget request.