WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is still reviewing whether he will vote in favor of overturning a new rule by a consumer protection agency that forbids financial companies from including contract clauses that bar class-action law suits.
R. Alexander Acosta, President Donald Trump’s labor secretary nominee, faced members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP, Committee during his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Neil Gorsuch, a conservative who serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, faced four days of confirmation hearings by the U.S. Senate this week.
U.S. Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., along with U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., reintroduced the Arbitration Fairness Act March 7. The legislation, previously introduced in 2011 and 2015, would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, civil rights and antitrust cases.
Various legislation has been introduced this Congress aimed at restructuring the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the largest of the nation’s 13 courts of appeals. The circuit’s judges contend a split would be harmful, while Democrats argue partisan politics is at the center of the push.
The rule, sometimes referred to as the conflicts of interest rule, mandates financial professionals who service individual retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k) plans, to serve the “best interest” of the savers and disclose conflicts of interest.
