Abstract
From social security to Environmental, Social, & Governance issues and cryptocurrency investments in 401(k)s, the second Trump administration promises to enact substantial change on Americans' retirement prospects. Key aspects of these policy and legal changes stem from Project 2025 and have been previewed by the administration's cabinet appointees who have spoken at length about their agenda. Drawing on insights gained from the first Trump administration, his campaign platform in 2024, and the detailed policy manifesto his administration began to enact immediately upon his second inauguration, this Article evaluates several anticipated alterations to federal fiduciary law and broader retirement policy and analyzes their effects on working Americans. From this discussion, several themes are derived, including enhanced uncertainty, increased costs associated with plan administration, politically oriented paternalistic interventions over individualism, and diminished protections for workers and retirees. If implemented, these policies will, on balance, worsen Americans' already bleak retirement outlooks. Even if their enactment is ultimately stymied, efforts to implement these policies will increase for plan sponsors and fiduciaries dreaded uncertainty about the state of retirement plan regulation in America. Increased uncertainty will inevitably lead to increased agency and other costs and weakened protections for American workers and retirees.