President Joe Biden issued his first veto of his presidency Monday in the first sign of a shift in the White House’s relationship with Congress since Republicans took control of the House in January – a move that is a prelude to a larger battle with GOP lawmakers over government spending. and the nation’s debt limit.
Biden sought to kill a Republican-authored measure that would have prohibited the government from considering environmental impacts or potential lawsuits when making investment decisions for people’s retirement plans. In a video released by the White House, Biden said he vetoed the measure because it “cleanses the retirement savings of individuals across the country.”
His first veto reflected a more confrontational approach midway through Biden’s tenure, as he faces a GOP-controlled House eager to undo parts of his policy legacy and investigate his administration and his family. Complicating matters for Biden, several Democratic senators are up for re-election next year in conservative states, giving him a political incentive to distance himself from the White House.
The measure vetoed by Biden would effectively reinstate a Trump-era ban on federal pension plan managers considering factors such as climate change, social impacts or pending lawsuits when making investment choices.
The veto could also help stoke the anger of environmentalists who are angry with the Biden administration over its recent decision to save the Willow oil project, a large and controversial drilling project in Alaska.
“The president vetoed the bill because it endangers the lives of police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other workers,” said White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson.
But critics say that environmental, social and government investments are allocating money based on political agendas, such as the drive against climate change, rather than getting the best results for savers. Republicans in Congress who pushed the measure say environmental or social considerations in investments by the government are just another example of “waking up.”
“In his first veto, Biden simply joined Wall Street in waking up for workers,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted on Monday. “It says exactly where the priorities are.” He said “obviously Biden wants Wall Street to use your retirement savings to fund left-wing political causes.”
Biden’s veto is likely to win. Only three Democrats in Congress — one in the House, and two in the Senate — support Republicans on the matter, making it unlikely that a two-thirds majority in both chambers could be assembled to override Biden’s veto.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was the lone Democrat to support the resolution in the House, while Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Joe Manchin, DW.Va., supported it in the Senate. Golden is a perennial target of Republicans who want to oust him from conservative districts, while Tester and Manchin are both up for re-election next year.
“This administration continues to prioritize its radical policy agenda over our nation’s economic, energy and national security needs, and that is outrageous,” Manchin said in a statement.
Although Biden quickly vetoed the investment resolution, other measures coming from Capitol Hill in the coming weeks and months could be tougher calls for the White House.
The administration initially signaled that Biden would reject a Republican-authored measure that would deal with a crime measure passed by the District of Columbia Council, but the president later said he would sign it. The White House has also not indicated what Biden will do with the measure – passed simultaneously in both chambers of Congress – that would reveal US intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19.
Biden’s immediate successor, Donald Trump, vetoed 10 bills during his tenure, while Barack Obama vetoed 12, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Both have one veto that is overridden by Congress.
The president with the most vetoes was Franklin Delano Roosevelt – who was elected to four terms before a constitutional amendment limited all presidents to two – with 635 vetoes. Six US presidents have never vetoed legislation while in office.