CNN
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The House of Representatives on Thursday failed to override President Joe Biden’s veto of a measure to overturn a controversial investment rule in a victory for the White House.
Biden issued the first veto of his presidency Monday on a resolution to overturn a retirement investment rule that allows managers of retirement funds to consider the impact of climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when picking investments.
A two-thirds majority vote would have been needed in both chambers of Congress to override the veto – a high threshold to meet. The final vote on the effort to override the veto was 219 to 200.
Republican lawmakers led the effort to overturn the investment rule, arguing it pushes a liberal agenda on Americans and will hurt retirees’ bottom lines. Democrats argue it’s not about political ideology, it’s not a mandate and it will help investors.
The resolution, which would rescind a Department of Labor rule, passed both chambers of Congress with Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana voting with Republicans in the Senate.
Biden argued the GOP-backed measure to overturn the rule would put retirement savings at risk.
“This bill would risk your retirement savings by making it illegal to consider risk factors MAGA House Republicans don’t like,” Biden tweeted as he announced the veto.
The veto from Biden reflects the reality of a changed political order in Washington with Republicans now in control of the House after they won back the chamber from Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.
Previously, Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. Now, the president’s party only has a majority in the Senate.
Most legislation passed by the current GOP-controlled House will not be able to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate. But the resolution to overturn the investment rule only needed a simple majority to pass in the Senate. Republican lawmakers advanced it under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to roll back regulations from the executive branch without needing to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate that is necessary for most legislation.
