Joe Biden used his presidential veto for the first time today, rejecting legislation proposed by Republican opposition that would limit responsible pension fund investments.

The US president said in a press release that the text, which rejects the consideration of environmental, social and governance criteria — or “ESG” — in financial decisions, threatened “retirement savings by making it illegal to consider factors danger”.

The bill targeted a measure put in place by the US Labor Department in January that makes it easier for pension funds to make such investments. Republicans complain that this is an ideological stance.

“Whoever manages your pension should be able to protect your hard-earned savings, whether Marjorie Taylor Green likes it or not,” Joe Biden said, referring to a hard-wing American right-wing politician. .

Republicans managed to pass this law thanks to their slim majority in the House of Representatives. The text also passed the Senate, although it is controlled by Democrats, thanks to the enlistment of two senators from the president’s party and the absence of three others during the vote.

Republican Andy Barr, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure “politicized Americans’ retirement funds and put their pensions at risk.”

The White House had made it clear that Joe Biden would veto this bill.

The text that was rejected on Monday was also criticized by environmental organizations.

“Preventing people from considering the financial risks associated with climate change (…) will hurt their savings,” said one of them, the Sierra Club.