The Club for Growth Foundation is requesting that the SEC issue a Notice of Supplemental Rulemaking and reopen the public comment period for its proposed rule that would require public companies to submit enhanced and standardized Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance information (“ESG Rule”).
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the West Virginia v. EPA case restricts the rulemaking authority of administrative agencies by applying a number of factors that should be considered when a proposed rule implicates a major policy question. Well-established law requires that agencies offer a sufficient rationale for a rule to permit interested parties to comment meaningfully.
If the SEC choses to proceed with this rulemaking, an important part of its rationale for doing so must be its conclusion that the proposed rule is permissible under the West Virginia decision, and the public should have a meaningful opportunity to comment.
As Stephen Soukup, vice president and publisher of The Political Forum and author of “Dictatorship of Woke Capital” told us, “the federal bureaucratic Leviathan is once again attempting to usurp the power that rightly belongs to the American people. In this case, it is also trying to alter more than seventy years of precedent on the definition of materiality for publicly traded businesses. The SEC knows that its proposed sustainability rule is faulty and goes far beyond its legislative mandate. The Club for Growth Foundation is right to warn the Commission that the rule, as written, is unfeasible and that it should not proceed with its planned implementation. As West Virginia v EPA makes clear, if the SEC does proceed without further review and deliberation, it will, ultimately, lose this fight in court.”
Joe Biden’s federal agencies are constantly working to push their woke ESG agenda by exceeding their rulemaking authority, and in the process they’re inflicting enormous harms on American businesses, consumers, and the economy. As if record high inflation and the recession are not bad enough. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision, Joe Biden’s SEC must justify their woke ESG rule and American businesses must be given a meaningful opportunity to comment.
Click here to read Club for Growth Foundation’s petition to the SEC.