A bipartisan bill that could have overturned President Joe Biden’s Labor Department law that allows left-wing social, environmental, and governance (known as ESG) policies to be taken into account in retirement investing was rejected by Biden on Monday, issuing his first veto.
“I just vetoed my first measure,” Biden announced on Twitter.
“By making it unlawful to take into account risk indicators that MAGA House Republicans dislike, this plan will put your retirement money at peril,” according to Biden. “Regardless of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s opinion, your plan manager ought to have the ability to safeguard your hard-earned savings.”
H.R. 30, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would overturn Biden’s Labor Department ESG rule, was the piece of legislation that Biden was referring to.
The legislation ultimately gives fund managers the ability to consider climate change and give priority to ESG activities, a kind of leftist activism in financial investing, while making retirement investment choices and executing shareholder rights, such as proxy voting. Also, a measure that had been implemented to safeguard Citizens’ retirement accounts under former President Donald Trump was being reversed.
To reach the president’s desk, the legislation had to pass both the Democrat-controlled Senate and the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. The legislation criticizing Biden’s Labor Department policy was approved by the Senate with the support of Republicans and Democratic Senators Jon Tester (MT) and Joe Manchin (WV).
The White House announced that President Biden would veto the bill if it passed Congress before Biden actually did so. The House already has planned a vote on March 23 to override Biden’s veto; however, with the narrow majority in Congress, it is improbable that Congress can override Biden’s veto since it would take two-thirds approval from both chambers.
Riley Moore, the state treasurer of West Virginia, who has been leading the fight against ESG regulations at the state level, attacked the president for his “clear” indication that he “stands with the woke capitalists as well as their radical globalist agenda as opposed to the best interests as well as the financial security of America” following the veto.
Moore continued, “A bipartisan majority in Congress made it abundantly clear that they believed this rule was damaging and went too far, yet President Biden opted to disregard the will of the people’s representatives. Congress, not unelected agency bureaucrats advancing deep-state objectives, is supposed to establish the laws in our country.”
The state treasurer continued, “This rule will enable Wall Street elites to advance liberal social agendas that undercut our citizens’ values and way of life by utilizing the pension and retirement plans of millions of hardworking Americans.”
