Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin criticized President Joe Biden’s first veto on a bill he said would have overruled the Labor Department’s “radical” environmental and social governance (ESG) legislation at the cost of the country’s energy and economic security, according to The Hill.
Biden on Monday signed his first veto on a bill that would have “put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country,” according to CNN. The ESG legislation would have allowed money managers to control their investment and retirement funds by taking factors like climate change into consideration, according to the rule.
The House voted to remove the rule with 216-204 votes, and the Senate passed the legislation with a final voting result of 54-50, according to The Hill. Congress would need a two-thirds majority to override the veto, which is unlikely.
Manchin, alongside Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester, voted to overturn the legislation on March 1, accusing Biden’s veto of being sustained by a “progressive agenda” that put the country’s needs at risk, according to The Hill.
“This Administration continues to prioritize their radical policy agenda over the economic, energy and national security needs of our country, and it is absolutely infuriating,” said Manchin. “West Virginians are under increasing stress as we continue to recover from a once-in-a-generation pandemic, pay the bills amid record inflation, and face the largest land war in Europe since World War II.”
“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,” said Manchin, according to The Hill.
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