US: Joe Biden uses veto for first time

US President Joe Biden used his veto power for the first time on Monday.

The move overrides an investment bill proposed by Republicans. The bill would have prevented investment fund managers from taking factors like such as climate change, social impacts or pending lawsuits into account, known as ESG investing.

Biden tweeted that the bill would threaten "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," Biden said, referring to a Republican lawmaker that championed the bill.

To override the veto, supporters of the bill would need to garner a two thirds majority both in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

What is the Republican-led ESG bill?

The bill overturned a Labor Department rule making it easier for fund managers to consider ESG factors for investments and in proxy voting. The Labor Department reinstated the ESG rule in November, undoing a push by former President Donald Trump to penalize investment fund managers for considering climate change.

Two Democratic senators voted with the Republicans, allowing the bill to pass. The Democrats hold a thin majority in the Senate.

Republicans claim the rule would politicize investing in a way that would hurt financial performance.

Democrats argue that the rule does not prescribe how ESG factors should be considered, as long as the fund is meeting its obligations to its beneficiaries. Biden has also framed the rule as a financial boost to investors concerned about climate risk.

Republicans accuse Biden of 'far-left' agenda

"It is clear that President Biden wants Wall Street to use your hard-earned money not to grow your savings, but to fund a far-left political agenda. That will hurt seniors and workers," Republican House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy said.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who voted with Republics on the bill, said that the Biden administration was pushing a "radical policy agenda."

"Despite a clear and bipartisan rejection of the rule from Congress, President Biden is choosing to put his administration's progressive agenda above the well-being of the American people," Manchin said.

During a debate on the bill, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer accused Republics of "forcing their own views down the throats of every company and every investor."

sdi/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP)