Attorney General Ken Paxton
To prevent a new U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) rule from inflicting substantial financial damage on the American people, Attorney General Paxton took the next step in his previously announced lawsuit against the Biden Administration by filing a motion for preliminary injunction.
The DOL rule sacrifices millions of Americans’ retirement plans on the altar of Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) investing by placing the radical left’s climate and social agenda above sound financial investment principles. Under the rule, certain fund managers would be allowed to make investment decisions based on nonfinancial or nonpecuniary factors, such as ESG considerations, even when those decisions are not in the best interests of their clients’ long-term financial stability.
Federal law—specifically, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”)—has long protected hardworking Americans’ retirement accounts by ensuring that the number one priority of fund administrators is the financial prosperity of those who have entrusted them with their life savings. This new rule directly undermines ERISA and the reasoning behind why Congress enacted it.
“I filed this lawsuit on behalf of the over 150 million Americans who deserve to know that their retirement savings are safe and aren’t at risk from the Biden Administration’s obsession with ESG,” said Attorney General Paxton. “We’re fighting to protect Americans’ financial security, and I’m hopeful that the court will enjoin this rule immediately to prevent our citizens’ retirement accounts from being permanently harmed by woke fund managers who have been empowered by Joe Biden and the Left.”
To read the full motion for preliminary injunction, click here.
