Democrats on Capitol Hill are reportedly soliciting signatureson a letter that says all Republican riders to the omnibus spendingbill must be rejected.

Opponents of the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciaryrule have been threatening for months to use theappropriations process to defund the agency’s effort to finalizeand enforce a new fiduciary standard.

The omnibus, or appropriations bill, is due for a vote byDecember 11, or two weeks from Friday.

Congressional leaders will be in negotiations with the WhiteHouse until then, trying to determine how recent increases in thebudget bill will be passed.

A report from Rep. Nita Lowey, D-New York, lists the many areasin which appropriations that made it out of Republican controlledsubcommittees in both the House and Senate hope to defund or limitbudget initiatives.

This past summer, the Labor, Health and Human Services andEducation appropriations subcommittee in the Houseincluded direct language against the DOL’s efforts to finalize afiduciary rule when it allocated $11.7 billion to the DOL, some$1.4 billion below the White House’s request for funding.

“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used tofinalize, implement, administer, or enforce the proposed Definitionof the Term ‘Fiduciary’,” according to language in the House’s 2016budget.

Language in the appropriations bill that came out of theSenate was less explicit, recommending a provisionthat would “restrain regulatory overreach” by the DOL.

Rep. Lowey’s list of Republican riders included the measure todefund Labor’s proposal in the budget released from the Labor, HHSand Education subcommittee.

It was one of about 35 listed efforts by Republicans to defundinitiatives, which range in controversy from the Patient Protectionand Affordable Care Act and transportation infrastructure anddefense spending riders, to more esoteric causes, like the effortto block funding for inspections of horse slaughter facilities, andfunding to protect threatened species.

Barbara Roper, director of investment protection at the ConsumerFederation of America and a prominent defender of Labor’s fiduciaryproposal, told BenefitsPro earlier this year she was concernedabout the tactic to defund the fiduciary effort through theappropriations process.

“If someone is really intent on allowing financial serviceproviders to continue to steer investors into high-cost,low-quality products, there certainly are ways to try to dothat,” Roper said.

She also noted that President Obama would, of course, have tosign the Omnibus spending bill that includes a rider to defundLabor’s fiduciary proposal.

The President has thrown the weight of his full support behindthe DOL's effort, while Republican majority leaders in the Houseand Senate have been silent on the matter.