President Joe Biden has denounced three "anti-woke" bills introduced by Republicans in Congress, saying each is unnecessary or would curtail needed government services.
Biden announced Tuesday that he opposes the End Woke Higher Education Act, the Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act, and the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act.
GOP leaders have teed up a number of messaging bills this week to combat “ wokeness ” in the federal government, even as progress stalls on legislation to avoid a government shutdown that could start in two weeks.
The House will vote Wednesday on a continuing resolution to fund the government until the end of March 2025. However, it’s not clear whether House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has made any progress since pulling his continuing resolution , which included the SAVE Act, from the floor last week.
Biden warned that the End Woke Higher Education Act would "micromanage both public and private institutions, undermining their ability to recognize and promote diversity."
The bill would require colleges and universities to “put in place First Amendment principles” in order to receive federal funding. It also bars accreditors from requiring “partisan frameworks and ideological litmus tests” for schools in order to receive accreditation.
"Because of Republican-backed efforts to limit the ability of colleges and universities to admit a diverse student body, many college classes look less like America this year than in prior years," Biden's statement says. "This legislation would further undermine efforts to make colleges welcoming to all students."
The Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act is a direct response to a controversial rule that the Biden administration pushed. The rule allows but does not require fiduciaries to weigh environmental, social, and governance factors when making investment decisions for U.S. retirement accounts.
But Biden says that existing legislation already requires fiduciaries to act in the interests of plan participants, a key complaint of the bill's sponsors who say ESG considerations would hurt returns.
"Artificially limiting fiduciaries’ ability to consider material information in making sound investments will reduce savings and retirement security for Americans," Biden's statement says.
The third bill, the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act, seeks to limit the ways in which federal regulators can insert ESG into the financial system through rulemaking. It would also prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from forcing a publicly traded company to include a shareholder proposal or even discussing a proposal in a proxy statement.
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Biden said the bill would "severely limit the ability of Federal financial regulators to protect consumers and investors" and would block some federal agencies from "working to influence standards" that improve the financial system.
None of the president's statements include a veto threat. However, the three bills are unlikely to reach his desk because Democrats control the upper chamber of Congress.
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