Attorney General Paxton joined a Utah-led coalition urging congressional leaders to use their authority under the Congressional Review Act (“CRA”) to revoke an Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) rule put forward by President Biden’s Department of Labor (“DOL”). Paxton also filed a lawsuit in January to vacate the rule and prevent it from harming Americans’ retirement accounts.  

Unless rescinded, the rule would allow certain asset managers to prioritize non-financial factors, such as ESG considerations, over what is in their clients’ best financial interests. This has the potential to decimate the retirement accounts of millions of hardworking citizens, who have spent decades saving and planning in order to retire with the confidence that they are financially secure. The rule also runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), which was passed by Congress in order to ensure that those managing certain accounts adhere to strict fiduciary requirements to responsibly invest funds.  

The letter states: “Given the detrimental effects this brazen violation of federal law will have on millions of Americans, we urge Congress to disapprove the 2022 Rule. Under the CRA, Congress has the power to erase this federal rule by issuing a joint resolution of disapproval. However, Congress only has a limited sixty-day period to disapprove this rule and must act immediately. Senator Mike Braun and Representative Andy Barr have introduced a joint resolution to eradicate the 2022 Rule. We ask every member of the United States Congress to support this resolution to prevent asset managers from sacrificing Americans’ hard-earned retirement savings for political causes.” 

To read the full letter, click here.