The Department of Labor (DOL) today issued an overhaul of national enforcement projects for 2026.
According to the agency, among the projects include cases related to cybersecurity; barriers to mental health and substance use disorder benefits; protecting benefit distributions; retirement asset management; surprise billing; and criminal abuse of contributory benefit plans.
The DOL also says it plans to continue identifying cases of abuse with Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWA) and “preventing fraudulent MEWA operators from opening new arrangements in other states.”
Among projects removed from the list include employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and reduced focuses on missing participants in 401(k) plans. Instead, the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) will be turning cases of missing participants to the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database, a system implemented following passage of SECURE 2.0 in 2022.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said that by readjusting priorities, EBSA investigations will “be more efficient, responsive, and prioritize serious misconduct rather than minor foot faults.”
“EBSA’s enforcement powers are broad and impact American workers, retirees, and their families through many stages of life. Because of that, it’s vitally important that our investigators focus on areas that we feel will produce the best results,” he said.
The subagency came under fire in 2025 following allegations of issues with transparency and oversight with EBSA enforcement operations. Testimonies from industry experts claimed the subagency took years to complete investigations and lacked any responsiveness or speed in its inquiries.
In a statement on the new enforcement projects, Assistant Secretary for EBSA Daniel Aronowitz asked plans and service providers to “respond promptly” to “requests for information and findings” from EBSA. “We are committed to conducting our investigations in a timely and fair manner, ensuring both compliance outcomes and recoveries that benefit participants and beneficiaries,” he said.
A series of bills, the EBSA Investigations Transparency Act, the Balance the Scales Act, and the Retire through Ownership Act have since been passed by the House Committee on Education and Workforce to curtail the alleged lack of clarity and use of common interest agreements. The bills have moved forward to the House of Representatives, where they are currently pending.
EBSA files proposed rule on alts in 401(k)s
The news on enforcement programs comes just days following EBSA’s completion of a proposed rule that would cover fiduciary responsibilities when considering alternative investments in 401(k) plans.
The DOL and EBSA filed the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Jan. 13, weeks before its Feb. 3 deadline. Details of the rule have not been released.
President Donald Trump in August 2025 signed an executive order that would mandate the DOL, along with other regulators, to build a framework that would potentially allow alternative investments in defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. Trump gave the regulators 180 days to propose a rule.
The OMB has up to 90 days to review and approve the proposal following submittal, but this could be shorter if it wants to meet Trump’s 180-day deadline. If approved, EBSA will publish the proposed rule for a 60-day public comment period.