Biden Veto Means ESG Investment Rule Means Politicized Investing for Pensions

President Biden today vetoed a resolution passed by Congress that would have stopped a Labor Department rule on ESG investing. Specifically, the rule, “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights,” will give pension fund managers greater leeway in using so-called environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in selecting investments on behalf of their beneficiaries. CEI experts criticized the Biden veto.

Richard Morrison, CEI Senior Fellow

“It is disappointing that President Biden today failed to support retirement security for millions of Americans. Pension managers should be focusing on maximizing benefits for workers and retirees, not advancing unrelated social and political causes. Biden’s veto will lead to more politicized investing and – to the extent it undermines investment returns for pension plans – could also lead to future bailouts by taxpayers.” > Related analysis on nationalreview.com

Marlo Lewis, CEI Senior Fellow

“As usual, President Biden falsely accuses conservatives of doing what his administration is actually doing—diverting retiree savings from the best-performing investments to those aligned with an ideological program, in this case, the so-called Net-Zero agenda. The CRA resolution passed by Congress and vetoed by President Biden would have put a stop to such mischief.”