A federal appeals court ordered a judge on Thursday to reconsider blocking a Biden administration rule that allows environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in employee retirement plans following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas judge must reconsider a decision upholding a Department of Labor rule, which took effect in February 2023 and allows retirement plans to consider factors like racial justice and climate change when investing to break ties in options of equal quality. The appellate court sent back the ruling because it relied on a legal doctrine called Chevron deference, which the Supreme Court overturned in June.
Chevron deference previously required courts to defer to the interpretation of a government agency when the language in a given statute was considered ambiguous. The Supreme Court overturned that…
