Biden poised for first veto after Dems support rollback

“At a time when working families are dealing with higher costs, from health care to housing, we need to be focused on ensuring Montanans’ retirement savings are on the strongest footing possible,” Tester said in a statement. “I’m opposing this Biden Administration rule because I believe it undermines retirement accounts for working Montanans and is wrong for my state.”

The fact that Republicans are poised to push the measure through a divided Congress underscores the growing political momentum behind their crusade against what they deride as “woke” business practices. Conservative officials at the state and federal level are increasingly attacking big corporations for embracing social and environmental causes. It’s a push that Democrats in red states and swing districts are finding they’re unable to ignore.

The Biden administration said in its veto threat this week that the rollback move would “unnecessarily limit the options available to retirement plan participants and investors.”

The president’s threat in a way gives moderate Democrats a free pass to distance themselves from the president because they don’t face the risk of the rollback actually being implemented.

Asked whether Democratic leadership had pressured him to vote “no,” Tester told reporters that they gave a presentation to the broader caucus Tuesday. But “it wasn’t like, pestering.”

The 2024 election “hasn’t been my focus, but that ought to be their focus,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who sponsored the measure, told reporters. “I just tried to make the merits of the case out there understandable to everyone listening.”

Manchin took to the Senate floor to blast the Biden DOL rule as “just another example of how our administration prioritizes a liberal policy agenda over protecting and growing the retirement accounts of 150 million Americans.”

Republicans are taking advantage of procedures under the Congressional Review Act that allow lawmakers to nullify recently issued rules with simple majority votes, avoiding the Senate filibuster.

The Labor Department rule at issue doesn’t require investment managers to focus on environmental, social and governance factors in retirement accounts, but instead clarifies that they’re free to do so.

ESG investing has been a big focus for money managers for years, partly in response to consumer demand for sustainable investment products.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a Wall Street Journal op-ed blasted the GOP rollback effort, accusing Republicans of sacrificing their free market ideals in favor of “forcing their own views down the throats of every company and investor.”

“The whole anti-ESG operation is a fake, cooked up by the fossil fuel industry,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in an interview.