More than two years into his administration, President Joe Biden used his veto power for the first time on Monday, killing a bipartisan resolution that would have reversed a final rule from the Department of Labor that pushes woke ESG standards as a priority over profitability for Americans' retirement accounts.
In a statement, President Biden sought to justify his veto by claiming that the final rule "allows retirement plan fiduciaries to make fully informed investment decisions" while "ensuring that investment decisions made...maximize financial returns for retirees."
"There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses," the president said in the statement notifying Congress of his veto. "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."
I just vetoed my first bill.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 20, 2023
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
Conveniently, Biden omitted the fact that Democrats — including those in the Democrat-led Senate — also voted to overturn the Labor Department's final rule. Instead, Biden suggested the resolution was solely the work of "MAGA House Republicans," and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) which is false. Greene was one of the 216 bipartisan House members who voted to pass the resolution, as did the Senate which, again, is controlled by Biden's party.
Telling that Biden isn’t using his veto to make a case for ESG - he’s just trying to defend his move by labeling the opposition as MAGA and MTG.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 20, 2023
He’s likely seeing the same polling R’s are: when people find out what ESG is, they don’t want their retirement $ anywhere near it.
Biden continued by claiming that "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," though he provided no information to back up his words.
"Retirement plan fiduciaries should be able to consider any factor that maximizes financial returns for retirees across the country," the president said. "That is not controversial — that is common sense," he claimed. "Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution."
Republicans previously slammed President Biden and his Labor Department's decision to push ESG values in Americans' retirement accounts as a "middle finger to middle-class Americans" and the GOP didn't hold back on Monday following the president's veto.
In his first veto, Biden just sided with woke Wall Street over workers. Tells you exactly where his priorities lie.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) March 20, 2023
Now—despite a bipartisan vote to block his ESG agenda—it’s clear Biden wants Wall Street to use your retirement savings to fund his far-left political causes.
The fact that Biden’s first veto is about promoting ESG reveals the problem: this isn’t the invisible hand of the “free market.” It’s the invisible fist of government. Don’t fall for their trick. https://t.co/qUeWxwgpxH
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 20, 2023
Joe Biden’s first veto as president: letting retirement fund managers prioritize ESG scams over the best-performing investments.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 20, 2023
Why is he playing games with working people’s retirement money? https://t.co/KaAex5TMDy
President Biden just vetoed bipartisan legislation to protect your hard-earned savings from his administration's rule on ESG, an unprofitable scam that prioritizes a radical social and environmental agenda over commonsense investments. https://t.co/jNSN0IfwEI
— Rep. Burgess Owens (@RepBurgessOwens) March 20, 2023
Biden’s first veto is to allow retirement plans to consider woke ESG priorities when making investment decisions.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 20, 2023
Joining Republicans in airing their disapproval of Biden's decision to overrule the will of the American people, Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (WV) also took a swipe at the White House, saying the Biden administration "continues to prioritize their radical policy agenda over the economic, energy and national security needs of our country, and it is absolutely infuriating," he said. "The Administration’s unrelenting campaign to advance a radical social and environmental agenda is only exacerbating these challenges."
MORE - Manchin (D-WV): "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." pic.twitter.com/0pMM3YJ6bd
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 20, 2023
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