ESG 401(k) Objection Rests on ‘False Premise,’ Labor Agency Says

The US Labor Department is firing back at the more than two dozen red states, energy firms, and workers suing to stop its rule that permits socially conscious retirement investing, arguing those challenges rest on a “false premise.”

Regulators filed nearly identical opposition briefs in separate Texas and Wisconsin federal court cases Tuesday stating that the ESG investing rule reaffirms the department’s long-held position that financial returns are paramount and that “collateral benefits” can only be considered when two or more investment options are economically equivalent.

GOP-led opposition to the regulation falsely claims that the department has promulgated a rule ...