The House of Representatives, on a nearly party line vote, failed to override President Joe Biden’s veto of a resolution that would have repealed the Labor Department rule allowing retirement plan managers to give preferential deference to environmental, social & corporate governance (ESG) factors in their investment decisions for retirees. A two-thirds vote from both bodies was needed to override the president’s veto. Alaska’s Rep. Mary Peltola voted with the Democrats and blocked the veto override.
Maine Rep. Jared Golden was the only Democrat to vote yes with all Republicans to override Biden’s first veto of his presidency. It doesn’t matter how the Senate votes; there are not enough votes to override the veto. It means retirement accounts may be managed for a Green New Deal agenda rather than for solely considering what is best for the account holder.
Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said “I am disappointed the House didn’t vote tonight in favor of overturning the Biden administration’s veto of H.J. Res. 30. Inviting ESG considerations into retirement investing is a threat to the future security of retirees.”
The rule by the Biden Administration allows retirement fund managers to put their thumb on the scale in favor of funds that are considered more acceptable to progressives, without giving priority to their responsibility to the retiree to invest for the highest return and appropriate safeguards on risk. It may make companies behave more politically, too.
Before Biden, fund managers had a legal duty to the retirees, but this administration now gives them the option of investing as they see it may be best for the planet, according to ever-changing progressive goals.
Earlier this year, Peltola had voted for the “woke” investment rules, in line with the Democrats, when she voted against a Congressional Review Act disapproval of the Biden rule.
