This afternoon, the Department of Labor announced a 60-day delay of the implementation of the “fiduciary rule,” which requires that financial professionals giving advice on to people saving for retirement act in the best interest of their clients, and not steer them into investments that pay a higher commission but offer a lower rate of return.

Simply put, DOL and the Trump administration are siding with Wall Street over working people saving for retirement. Just by delaying this rule, which requires investment advisers not to fleece their clients, the Trump administration is costing retirement savers $3.7 billion dollars over the next 30 years. The only beneficiary of this delay is the financial industry, which wants to continue fleecing retirement savers for as long as possible.

As part of the initial rulemaking process, DOL prepared a 382 page cost-benefit analysis examining in detail the expected economic impact of the rule. This was the culmination of a roughly six-year process that incorporated the feedback from four days of hearings, more than 100 stakeholder meetings, and thousands of public comments. Delaying the rule to revisit questions that have already been so thoroughly investigated is irresponsible and unjustifiable.

While the rule is being delayed, DOL is still collecting comments on whether to revise it or implement it as is. The American people should comment, and make sure that DOL and the Trump administration look out for working people and not just Wall Street advisers.