President Joe Biden demonstrated his willingness to confront the new Republican-controlled House as he issued his first veto in office. Secretary of the White House Robyn Patterson made a statement in response to a measure passed by the Congress that "put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country." Biden sought to kill the Republican-authored measure, which would have prevented government managers of retirement plans from taking into consideration environmental impacts, social impacts, or other external factors when making investment decision.

The veto also helped to assuage the anger from environmentalists, who were outraged by Biden's recent greenlighting of the Willow oil project in Alaska. Secretary Patterson affirmed the President's stance, saying "The President vetoed the bill because it jeopardizes the hard-earned life savings of cops, firefighters, teachers, and other workers." Republicans argued the policy is "woke," and will hurt retirement investors' bottom line, while Democrats maintained the