US lawmakers have called for a federal investigation into thousands of public comments supporting a proposed rule on alternative investments in 401(k) plans.
According to Bloomberg, representatives Bobby Scott and Jamie Raskin, together with Senator Bernie Sanders, have written to the US Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation requesting an immediate inquiry into the authenticity of public submissions backing the proposal. The rule, put forward by the US Department of Labor, would make it easier for retirement plan providers to offer private equity, crypto, and other alternative assets within 401(k) plans.
Comment campaign under scrutiny
The lawmakers' letters referenced reporting that identified close to 12.000 public comments, out of roughly 47.000 received during the consultation period, showing signs of coordinated rather than organic submission. The flagged comments reportedly lacked personal details such as signatures or location information, followed one of five recurring templates, and arrived at the Department of Labor in near-equal volumes over the course of a single week before stopping. At least two comments were submitted using the names of deceased individuals, and several people whose names were attached to submissions said they had no knowledge of them.
Scott and Sanders separately asked the Department of Labor's inspector general to audit the comment process, while Scott wrote directly to acting secretary Keith Sonderling seeking clarification on whether officials were aware of any external parties using unverifiable or stolen identities. The Department of Labor has stated that its review of comments focuses on their substance rather than the identity or number of commenters, and it has not confirmed whether an investigation will follow.
Regulatory background and industry stakes
The proposed rule was published at the end of March 2026. It is intended to give employers a safe harbor from fiduciary-duty lawsuits when including alternative assets in retirement plan menus, addressing a longstanding barrier to their adoption in defined-contribution plans. The Department of Labor has argued that savers with 401(k) accounts are missing out on returns and diversification benefits already available to public pension funds through private equity and hedge fund allocations.
The alternative asset management industry has lobbied in favour of the rule, with an estimated USD 10 trillion held in US retirement accounts representing a significant potential pool of new inflows. According to the reporting cited in the letters, no equivalent pattern of manufactured submissions was found among comments opposing the rule.
Implications for the rulemaking process
The requests for investigation add regulatory and reputational uncertainty to a proposal that already faced opposition from some lawmakers on investor protection grounds. Scott, Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren had previously urged the administration to withdraw the rule entirely. Should an investigation confirm that comments were fabricated, it could affect how regulators weigh public input on the proposal and increase scrutiny of comment integrity in future rulemakings involving retirement plan investment options.
