McCarthy Takes Final Shot at Biden Ahead of Anticipated Anti-ESG Bill Veto

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held a bill signing ceremony Thursday during which he chided President Joe Biden for prioritizing “left-leaning wokism” ahead of the president’s expected veto of the bill, which would block a rule allowing investors to make environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in retirement plans.

The ceremony gave McCarthy and several of the bill’s lead supporters in the House an opportunity to speak one last time on the measure before the White House shuts it down in what may become the president’s first veto of his tenure.

“What this [bill] will do is actually put people before politics, but unfortunately President Biden wants to put politics before your own savings,” McCarthy said. “He thinks left-leaning wokism is more important than you getting a return on your investment.”

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The resolution would scrap the Biden administration’s pro-ESG Department of Labor rule called the “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.”

It passed Congress in March with the support of all Republicans and one Democrat in the House, Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), and two Democrats in the Senate, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Golden represents a red-leaning rural district in Maine, while Manchin and Tester face difficult reelection battles in their states next year.

While the White House affirmed in a statement ahead of the Senate’s vote that the president would indeed veto the legislation, McCarthy said Thursday, “I hope the president will actually do the right thing, side with the American people and sign this bill immediately.”

“Otherwise, he’ll be on record defending a woke ESG rule that undermines Americans’ financial security,” the speaker added.

One of McCarthy’s guests at the signing was Fred Luehrs, a lead plaintiff in a Wisconsin lawsuit filed in February that argues the ESG rule goes against federal law by allowing investors to deprioritize their clients’ best interests, as detailed in the Center Square.

“What matters when it comes to retirement accounts like mine is how much my balance is, not whether the companies in my 401(k) plan support environmental and other political policies,” Luehrs said during the event. “That’s why I have retained counsel with the Wisconsin Institute of Law & Liberty to sue the Biden administration over this rule.”

The bill ceremony was McCarthy’s first of his speakership, “but it will not be the last,” the speaker quipped before writing his signature.