Both parties are trying to position themselves as champions of the middle class, a theme that is likely to dominate the 2016 presidential campaign. Seniors are an important voting bloc for both parties.
 
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a consumer advocate who some Democrats hope will challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the party's presidential nomination, joined Obama where he called for a proposal at an event hosted by the Association of American Retired Persons (AARP) on Monday.
 
Different Standards
 
In its push back against the Department of Labor's efforts, Wall Street groups have also cited a lack of coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority oversee largely the same pool of brokers as the Department of Labor, but have different legal regimes.
 
The SEC for years has considered adopting its own uniform fiduciary rule for retail brokers and advisors, but remains sharply divided and has not even determined whether new rules are warranted.
 
Under SEC rules, advisors are held to a higher "fiduciary standard" while brokers are held to a lower "suitability" standard, meaning they must sell "suitable" products even if they are not the most cost-effective.
 
Ken Bentsen, president of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said Monday that the SEC is the appropriate entity to consider any new rules, and said the White House's research supporting reforms is woefully inadequate.
 
Bentsen said Obama's announcement "juts a lot of politics into what is a very serious matter."