On April 30, the House Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing on the impact of ESG rules on retirement plans. The hearing also focused on other security issues, like tariffs, Social Security, and the national debt.

Also discussed at the hearing was Subcommittee Chairman Rep Rick Allen’s (R-GA) bill, the “Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act.” That bill, H.R.2988, would require those who manage other people’s retirement savings (subject to ERISA) to prioritize maximization of returns over other factors (like, ESG—environment, social, and governance).

Witnesses at the hearing included economists, and representatives from industry and labor. They, along with subcommittee members, discussed the impact of factors other than pure investment returns on retirement savings plan performance (and thus, plan participants’ ability to accumulate adequate retirement savings).

In general, the subcommittee’s Democrats and the labor witness argued that consideration of ESG factors fit within ERISA’s fiduciary rules and should be permissible. Republicans, on the hand, argued that fiduciary duty requires maximization of investment returns and that ESG factors, unless they do not impact investment returns, should have no role in a fiduciary’s investment decisions. There were similar arguments made with respect to other investment choice issues like Social Security.

Prospects: It is unlikely that H.R.2988 will get Congressional attention in the near term but may find its way into the legislative process after lawmakers complete work on the currently pending reconciliation bill and the subsequent fiscal year (FY) 2026 government funding legislation. If and when Congressional attention does materialize, it is likely to receive largely partisan focus. Thus, prospects for its enactment are dim, even with all-GOP control, since the bill would have to win 60 votes in the Senate and that seems unlikely.

NAIFA Staff Contact: Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org.