GOP’s Effort to Undo 401(k) ESG Rule Centers on Investment Ties

An obscure, 30-year-old test retirement plans use to break ties between substantially similar investment options has become the central focus of a Republican-led effort to undo the Biden administration’s ESG-friendly 401(k) rule.

The latest round of briefs in an appeals court battle challenging the US Labor Department’s environmental, social, and corporate governance regulation have zeroed in on revisions to the “tiebreaker standard,” which 26 red-state attorneys general say violates federal benefits law.

It’s the newest development in a political frenzy emerging over the role factors such as climate change or diversity, equity, and inclusion should play when Wall Street money ...