Republicans may ban Biden from investing in ESG
2023.02.28 13:58
Republicans may ban Biden from investing in ESG
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – A bill to prevent President Joe Biden’s administration from allowing retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, issues in their investment decisions is up for vote in the Republican-controlled U.S. House on Tuesday.
The bill, which would prevent his own Labor Department from enforcing a new ESG rule, is expected to pass the House of Representatives in a vote late in the afternoon. Republicans may also have enough support in the Senate to send it to Biden, a Democrat. The White House has stated that Biden will veto the bill.
According to Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, the bill would make it so that plan managers would only consider financial returns when making investments and not “extraneous factors” like employment policies and environmental pollution.
In a floor speech, McConnell stated, “I’ll be proud to support this common-sense measure later this week.”
It is the latest blow in the culture war waged by Republicans against the use of issues that support environmental interests, social equality, and corporate responsibility in investment and business decisions.
As the 2024 presidential election campaign gets under way, the conflict is likely to get worse. Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and a leading contender for the White House, has already made his own battle against “woke” businesses a hallmark of his image.
Plan managers will find it simpler to take climate change into account when making retirement investments and exercising shareholder rights like proxy voting thanks to the Labor Department rule, which applies to plans that collectively invest $12 trillion on behalf of over 150 million people.
Traditional financial considerations must also be taken into consideration.
The rule “shall have no force or effect,” as stated in the Republican joint resolution.
Republican Representative Andy Barr, who introduced the House resolution, stated, “Retirement plans should be solely focused on delivering maximum returns, not advancing a political agenda.”
Most people think that the bill will pass the House, where Republicans have a small majority of 222-212 seats.
In the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority, a vote could take place as soon as Wednesday. All 49 Republican members and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin back the party. In any case, they could require an extra liberal or of the three free thinkers who typically vote with the leftists to pass the action on a straightforward larger part.
The measure’s sponsor, Republican Senator Mike Braun, stated, “There are going to be two or three votes, I think, that won’t reveal themselves until you get on the floor.”
Braun is bringing the resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which gets around the Senate’s “filibuster” rule, which says that most legislation needs 60 senators to pass. Braun is using this to get around the rule.
Monday, the White House said that if the bill got to Biden’s desk, he would veto it.
In a statement, the company stated, “The rule reflects what successful marketplace investors already know – there is an extensive body of evidence that environmental, social, and governance factors can have material impacts on certain markets, industries, and companies.”
A federal judge in Texas was notified last week by 25 Republican-led states that the same rule could cause millions of Americans to lose their retirement investments and harm state finances. An oil drilling company and an oil and gas trade group are the case’s plaintiffs.
