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Republican state officials request ESG clarification (2025)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
Twenty-two Republican state financial officers—treasurers, auditors, and a comptroller—sent a letter Jan. 28 asking the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue new rules clarifying and updating ESG policies enacted or proposed during the Biden administration.
The DOL and the SEC each issued ESG and sustainability investing rules under the Biden administration that Republicans opposed. Congressional Republicans sought to block the DOL’s rule permitting the use of ESG in ERISA-governed pension plans using the Congressional Review Act, and Republican attorneys general have aimed to block the rule in court. The SEC’s emissions reporting rule also faced legal challenges and was suspended by the Commission while lawsuits were considered.
The Trump administration may now seek to reverse or otherwise eliminate those significant rules.
According to Pensions & Investments:
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The state officials, which include treasurers, auditors and a comptroller, sent a letter Jan. 28 to Vince Micone, acting labor secretary, and SEC acting Chair Mark Uyeda asserting that action is needed to protect retirement savings for millions of Americans. “There is an indisputable trend, among large asset managers, to prioritize political and social agendas over the financial security of hardworking Americans,” the officials wrote. “Retirement security should not be jeopardized in order to facilitate corporate virtue signaling and activist-driven initiatives.” The letter cites a Jan. 10 federal court decision in which a judge ruled that American Airlines and its retirement plan fiduciaries violated ERISA’s guidelines by putting corporate interests ahead of participants’ interests due to using ESG factors in their investment decision-making. In that case, a former American Airlines pilot sued the company and plan fiduciaries for two 401(k) plans in June 2023 saying the plans’ doing business with certain investment managers — including BlackRock — violated ERISA due to their investments, proxy voting and other actions that included support of ESG principles.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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