U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, condemned President Biden’s veto of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning a rule authorizing asset managers to prioritize environment, social and governance (ESG) factors over the financial success of their clients’ retirement savings. On March 1st, the U.S. Senate passed the CRA by a bipartisan vote of 50 to 46. The CRA previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 216 to 204.
“Asset managers’ only priority should be helping Americans achieve the best return for their retirement, not using their clients’ money to fund a political agenda,” said Dr. Cassidy. “By vetoing this bipartisan resolution, President Biden is jeopardizing the retirement of 152 million Americans.”
On March 2nd, Cassidy delivered a floor speech in response to President Biden’s threat to veto the resolution overturning the ESG rule.
The ESG rule impacts 152 million Americans who have a retirement savings account regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), totaling more than $11.7 trillion in assets.
Background
In November of 2022, the Department of Labor released a rule that allows ERISA retirement plan managers to ESG factors when choosing investments on behalf of their clients. This overturns a previous rule that mandated asset managers to choose investments solely based on financial returns.
More than 100 organizations endorsed the CRA to overturn President Biden’s ESG rule.
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