President Joe Biden issued his first veto since taking office, nixing a measure that would nullify a new administration rule for retirement plans.
"I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country," Biden said in a Twitter video. "They couldn't take into consideration investments that would be impacted by climate, impacted by overpaying executives and that's why I decided to veto it."
The Senate voted 50-46 on March 1 to pass a measure blocking a Labor Department rule allowing for certain retirement plans to consider environmental, social and corporate factors when deciding investments instead of basing those decisions solely on the best rates of return. The House of Representatives passed the same measure on Feb. 28 with a 216-204 vote.
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) were the only Democrats to join Republicans in their respective votes.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) introduced the measure in February and implored Biden to "abandon the radical climate activists and join us in putting middle-class savers ahead of politics."
After having Democratic control for his first two years in office, Biden's first veto comes shortly after a newly divided Congress took effect in January.
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A two-thirds majority is required from each chamber of Congress to overcome a presidential veto.
