Between May and December 2017, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was scheduled to meet or talk 146 times with Republican politicians or with representatives of trade associations and businesses. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Employment Labor secretary seldom meets with labor, calendar shows

Two months before the Labor Department reversed course and proposed a lengthy delay for a regulation to bar retirement account brokers from financial conflicts of interest, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta met with legislators and industry representatives who opposed the rule.

Evidence of the meetings surfaced in more than 1,000 documents that the watchdog group American Oversight acquired under the Freedom of Information Act. A POLITICO analysis of the documents shows that Republicans and business representatives occupied most of Acosta's schedule during his first eight months as labor secretary.


Between May and December 2017, Acosta was scheduled to meet or talk 146 times with Republican politicians or with representatives of trade associations and businesses. Among the corporate chairmen whose input Acosta received were Steve Easterbrook of McDonald's and Jim McNerney of Boeing.

By comparison, Acosta was scheduled to meet or talk only 43 times with representatives of labor unions, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. Acosta met with Democratic politicians or left-leaning interest groups only 10 times during the same time period.

"This is exactly what we saw in Scott Pruitt’s calendar," said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, in a written statement. "Trump Cabinet officials putting the industries they regulate ahead of the people they’re supposed to be protecting."

But a Labor Department spokesperson told POLITICO in a written statement: “Secretary Acosta welcomes meetings with a broad array of stakeholders including employers, unions, and advocacy groups."

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On the so-called fiduciary rule concerning brokers of retirement accounts, Acosta blazed ahead initially, allowing part of it to take effect in June 2017, despite a February memorandum from the White House that directed Acosta to re-examine the Obama-era regulation in light of, among other things, whether it would bring "dislocations or disruptions within the retirement services industry."

In a May 2017 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Acosta set such concerns aside and wrote that the Administrative Procedure Act compelled him to let the rule to take effect. "Respect for the rule of law," he wrote, "leads us to the conclusion that this date cannot be postponed."

But the labor secretary took a U-turn in August 2017, opting to delay implementation of the regulation's second part after meeting, in June and July, with Republican lawmakers who opposed the rule; with Abby Johnson, chairman of Fidelity Investments; and with Dirk Kempthorne, former Idaho governor and former chairman of the American Council of Life Insurers.

Fidelity and ACLI had submitted public comments opposing the rule, and ACLI told POLITICO in a written statement that Kempthorne reviewed the group's comment letters with Acosta during his meeting.

The delay of the fiduciary rule's second half was finalized in November 2017, but the entire rule was mooted the following June when the Fifth Circuit vacated it.

Acosta also talked during this eight-month period with Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the documents show, although it's unclear what these meetings were about.

Acosta met in October 2017 with the CEO of Dunkin’ Brands to discuss “workforce issues,” according to his schedule. Lobbying reports show that Dunkin' has spent nearly $1 million since 2017 lobbying on joint employment, immigration reform and other matters.

“In the current labor market, finding workers to fill new and open positions remains one of the biggest challenges facing our franchisees,” Dunkin’ Brands told POLITICO in an emailed statement. “We continue to advocate for reasonable solutions, including expanded apprenticeship opportunities, industry certification programs, and sensible immigration reform.”

In June 2017 Acosta met with executives from Buffalo Wild Wings, Bloomin’ Brands (which owns Outback Steakhouse), and Brinker International (which owns Chili’s) over the “application of the tip credit in the restaurant industry.” Buffalo Wild Wings has spent $160,000 in lobbying on the tip credit guidance since 2017.

The Labor Department in the next year rescinded Obama-era guidance that required tipped employees paid less than minimum wage to spend most of their time doing tipped-wage duties, such as serving tables, rather than rolling silverware.

Analysis of Acosta's calendars also showed that Acosta met frequently with members of the Trump Cabinet on immigration issues.

In October 2017 Acosta met with acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, DHS Chief of Staff Chad Wolf, and USCIS Director Francis Cissna to discuss H-2B visas. Acosta also spoke by phone that month with White House adviser Stephen Miller on “immigration reform," according to the schedule.

"It's difficult to know what happened at Acosta's immigration-related meetings from his calendars alone, but it's probably safe to say that his discussions with hardliners like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller were not about protecting the rights of immigrants,” said Evers of American Oversight.

The watchdog group has filed a follow-up Freedom of Information Act request to get more information on Acosta's conversations with Bannon, Miller, Duke and Cissna.