President Joe Biden issued his first veto on Monday, rejecting a bipartisan bill that would have reversed his Labor Department rule allowing left-wing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies to be considered in retirement investing.
“I just vetoed my first bill,” Biden said in a tweet announcing the move.
President Biden on X (formerly Twitter): “I just vetoed my first bill.This bill would risk your retirement savings by making it illegal to consider risk factors MAGA House Republicans don’t like.Your plan manager should be able to protect your hard-earned savings – whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likes it or not. pic.twitter.com/PxuoJBdEee / X”
I just vetoed my first bill.This bill would risk your retirement savings by making it illegal to consider risk factors MAGA House Republicans don’t like.Your plan manager should be able to protect your hard-earned savings – whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likes it or not. pic.twitter.com/PxuoJBdEee
Ultimately, the rule enables fund managers to weigh climate change and prioritize ESG initiatives, a form of leftist activism in financial investing, when selecting retirement investments and exercising shareholder rights, such as proxy voting. It was also a rollback of a rule made under former President Donald Trump to protect Americans’ retirement plans.
The legislation passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled Senate to get to the president’s desk. In the Senate, Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Jon Tester (MT) joined Republicans in passing the legislation opposing Biden’s Labor Department policy.
Before Biden officially vetoed the legislation, the White House said the president would reject it if it were to pass Congress. The House has already scheduled a vote to override Biden’s veto on March 23; however, with the slim majority in Congress, it is unlikely that Congress can override Biden’s veto since it would require two-thirds support from both chambers.
Following the veto, West Virginia state Treasurer Riley Moore — who has been leading the charge on the state level against ESG rules — slammed the president for making it “clear” that he “stands with the woke capitalists and their radical globalist agenda instead of the best interests and financial security of the American people.”