December 2, 2025 — AARP Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Litigation William Alvarado Rivera testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions in a hearing.
Rivera’s testimony focused on the Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, in which AARP Foundation filed an amicus brief supporting retirement plan participants. The 9-0 ruling reaffirms that retirement plan managers must act responsibly and put participants’ interests first, and that everyday workers must have meaningful access to the courts to hold them accountable.
Also testifying were Andrew Salek-Raham, principal at Groom Law Group; Lynn Dudley, senior vice president of Global Retirement and Compensation Policy at the American Benefits Council; and Glenn Butash, chair of the ERIC Legal Center at The ERISA Industry Committee.
Why This Matters
According to AARP’s Financial Security Trends Survey, nearly seven in ten (69%) adults age 50-64 are worried about having enough money to be financially secure in retirement. Rivera emphasized that fiduciary breaches, such as offering high-fee investment options or failing to monitor plan expenses on 401(k) or other retirement accounts, can cost retirement savers 20% or more of their nest egg — tens of thousands of dollars for the typical saver.
“For most Americans, their retirement savings represent their life’s work as well as sacrifices and a commitment to saving,” Rivera testified. “ERISA’s fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence exist to protect those savings from conflicted deals and excessive or opaque fees.”