President Biden vetoed a bill that would have jeopardized the retirement savings of millions of Americans that was supported by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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The White House tweeted Biden explaining his first veto:
I just vetoed my first bill.
This bill would risk your retirement savings by making it illegal to consider risk factors MAGA House Republicans don’t like.
Your plan manager should be able to protect your hard-earned savings — whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likes it or not. pic.twitter.com/PxuoJBdEee
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 20, 2023
Biden said in his veto message to the House:
I am returning herewith without my approval H.J. Res. 30, a resolution that would disapprove of the Department of Labor’s final rule titled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.”
The Department of Labor’s final rule protects the hard‑earned life savings and pensions of tens of millions of workers and retirees across the country. It allows retirement plan fiduciaries to make fully informed investment decisions by considering all relevant factors that might impact a prospective investment, while ensuring that investment decisions made by retirement plan fiduciaries maximize financial returns for retirees.
There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses. But the Republican-led resolution would force retirement managers to ignore these relevant risk factors, disregarding the principles of free markets and jeopardizing the life savings of working families and retirees. In fact, this resolution would prevent retirement plan fiduciaries from taking into account factors, such as the physical risks of climate change and poor corporate governance, that could affect investment returns.
Retirement plan fiduciaries should be able to consider any factor that maximizes financial returns for retirees across the country. That is not controversial — that is common sense.
Rep. Greene (R-GA) offered a very weak reply:
No one has put our retirement at risk more than you, Joe.
American families can’t count on checks from China to pay their rent and groceries like your family does. https://t.co/rE9I4NSm18
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 20, 2023
President Biden was correct. It is common sense that financial planners should be able to take into consideration climate change and environmental concerns when making investment decisions.
Biden’s veto will save retirement accounts that Republicans like Greene wanted to destroy to score political points against ‘wokeism,’ whatever that is. Biden called out Greene by name in his tweet, as his veto serves as a reminder that only Biden and the Democrats are thinking about the best interests of the American people.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
