House Speaker Kevin McCarthy just held a ceremony in which he signed a bill that if ultimately passed will cancel a Department of Labor policy that permitted retirement plan investment managers to forward funds in order to boost environmental or social causes (ESG) rather than something that will more likely pay out investors.
Happening now: I'm about to sign the first bipartisan bill of the year, then send it to the president's desk. It blocks Biden's woke ESG agenda and puts workers over Wall Street. https://t.co/cXauyBoTrv
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) March 9, 2023
The policy, which was created in Dec. 2022, nixed a Trump-era rule that mandated fiduciaries come to investment decisions based only on if they will strengthen retirement savings. Thanks to the Biden administration’s changing of that rule, investment plan fiduciaries are now able to stick retirement money into ESG accounts without the consultation of employees. As was noted by the Federalist, ESG funds tend to not perform very well when compared to other investments and often bring a higher risk for investors.
“Hardworking Americans don’t need a regulation from Washington that steers them into higher fee, lower performing, less diversified funds, and that’s what these so-called ESG funds are,” stated Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), who introduced the bill to Congress. “Where people who are invested in ESG — unwittingly and without their consent in many cases — they suffer losses far greater than the average investor who is broadly and diversely invested across the board. And it’s true: these funds carry 43 percent higher fees which also eat their returns.”
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who appeared at the signing, seemingly agreed.
“[American taxpayers] deserve to have the highest rate of return so that they can enjoy retirement to the fullest,” he said. “And so President Biden’s got a choice. When Speaker McCarthy signs this bill and sends it over to The White House, President Biden’s got a choice. He’s gonna have to pick between billionaire elites and hardworking taxpayers who just want to have the best retirement possible after decades of working and paying into the system.”
The bill, House Joint Resolution 30, is reportedly the first bill to clear both the House and Senate chambers in the 118th Congress. It now heads its way to Joe Biden’s desk, where it is expected to be vetoed.
McCarthy asserted the resolution “strongly deserves to become law,” adding that he hopes Biden will “side with the American people” by signing the bill.
Should Biden not do so, McCarthy charged the White House occupant will “be on [the] record” of backing a leftist ESG policy that “undermines Americans’ financial security.”
