Two House Democrats who had been critical of a Labor Department regulation meant to force financial advisers to put clients before profits met with Obama administration officials last week as the rule reaches its final review stages.

Reps. Jared Polis of Colorado and Tony Cárdenas of California went to the White House Wednesday to speak with the top brass involved in the decision to approve the so-called fiduciary rule’s final draft.

The rule aims to create a conflict-of-interest standard for advisers who guide consumers through their retirement plans in hopes of protecting people from unscrupulous financial advisers.

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Critics say it is so unwieldy it could end up harming the people it aims to look after by making retirement products more expensive, potentially pricing some people out of the market.

The meeting also included Mike Berman, Polis’s legislative director, and Cárdenas’s deputy chief of staff and legislative director, Miguel Franco.

Neither office returned a request for comment.

Howard Shelanski, the head of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the office responsible for reviewing the rule, was present. Labor Department chief of staff Matthew Colangelo sat in, as did two others from the White House.

Cárdenas was one of nine House Democrats to sign a letter earlier this year expressing concerns with the contents of the final rule, which had officially been proposed last year.

“It is vital that the proposal doesn’t limit consumer choice and access to advice, have a disproportionate impact on lower- or middle-income communities, or raise the costs of saving for retirement,” said the letter, which was obtained by The Hill at the time.

The rule’s final version landed at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review in January. Since then there have been about two-dozen meetings with outside parties —primarily lobbyists in the financial services sector — looking to impart their opinions on how the rule should turn out.

The administration typically has 60 to 90 days to approve the rule or send it back to the Labor Department for changes. The text of the final rule does not become available to the public until then.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez Thomas Edward PerezClinton’s top five vice presidential picks Government social programs: Triumph of hope over evidence Labor’s 'wasteful spending and mismanagement” at Workers’ Comp MORE told lawmakers the department had taken commenter’s concerns seriously when formulating the final fiduciary rule.

“We have a shared interest to make sure everyone has access to retirement advice,” he said. “At the end of our process, we look forward to explaining the changes we made and how we intend to proceed.”

Last year, half of House Democrats had mentioned some kind of apprehension regarding the rule — including Polis, who had requested to see the confidential final draft last month.

“There is no statute preventing this request, and in light of the precedent of Members of Congress having the opportunity to view highly classified documents, including international agreements during the active negotiations, I trust that you will respond promptly and positively to this request,” Polis wrote to the OMB.

It’s unclear whether he ever got to peek at the rule text.

The Colorado congressman also requested an extension of the comment period on the final fiduciary rule, which would require the Labor Department to address all new substantive comments.

Proponents of the rule said an extension would only allow critics to derail its progress.

Regulators have been trying for about five years to create regulations requiring investment advisers for retirement plans to act solely for the benefit of their client.