US President Joe Biden vetoed a law passed in Congress for the first time during his term in office. The President today blocked a Republican bill that would have banned pension funds from considering environmental, social and responsible corporate governance criteria when making investment decisions.
Biden wrote on Twitter that the law would jeopardize pension savings because it would prohibit considering risk factors that right-wing Republicans “don’t like.” Many Republicans reject ESG criteria – the acronym for the English words for environment, social affairs and corporate governance – when investing as left-wing politically motivated.
Also two Democratic Senators for Law
The Republicans had introduced the law with their new majority in the House of Representatives. The text then also passed the Senate, although Biden’s Democrats have a majority there. However, two Democratic senators also voted in favor of the law.
The US President can veto laws passed in Congress. Overriding this veto would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress.
Biden had majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives for the first two years of his term. In the midterm elections in November, however, the Republicans were able to win a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
