President Joe Biden vetoed the first legislation of his presidency on Monday.
Biden vetoed a resolution to eliminate an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) retirement investment rule that retirement fund managers use to make investment decisions.
Congressional Republicans led the push, decrying the Department of Labor rule as “woke.” The White House pushed back on the GOP characterization, claiming that ESG standards help investors.
The Republican resolution passed both chambers of Congress with the help of Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT), both from rural states with large fossil fuel and mining industries.
The White House issued a statement shortly after President Biden’s veto:
“There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses. But the Republican-led resolution would force retirement managers to ignore these relevant risk factors, disregarding the principles of free markets and jeopardizing the life savings of working families and retirees,” the statement reads.
“In fact, this resolution would prevent retirement plan fiduciaries from taking into account factors, such as the physical risks of climate change and poor corporate governance, that could affect investment returns. Retirement plan fiduciaries should be able to consider any factor that maximizes financial returns for retirees across the country. That is not controversial — that is common sense,” the statement continues.
“Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution,” the statement concludes.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) spoke for the Republican Conference in response to Biden’s veto:
“Today President Biden used his first veto to reject bipartisan consensus in the House and Senate that Americans’ retirement savings should be invested to get the best return, not to support woke nonsense,” Lee said, per Fox News.
Manchin likewise criticized the move, saying, “This Administration continues to prioritize their radical policy agenda over the economic, energy and national security needs of our country, and it is absolutely infuriating. West Virginians are under increasing stress as we continue to recover from a once in a generation pandemic, pay the bills amid record inflation, and face the largest land war in Europe since World War II.”