U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has introduced new legislation aimed at limiting the use of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) considerations in the management of federal employee retirement savings.
The bill, known as the Stop TSP ESG Act, seeks to bar asset managers overseeing the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) — the retirement programme for U.S. government employees — from using participant funds to advance ESG- or DEI-related positions through corporate proxy voting. The TSP manages more than $1 trillion in assets, with its core mutual funds primarily handled by BlackRock Capital Advisers and State Street Global Advisors, both of which exercise voting rights on behalf of investors.
Sen. Cruz argued that the intervention is necessary to safeguard federal workers’ savings from what he characterised as politically driven strategies. “Americans deserve assurance that their retirement savings are being invested in the most fiscally responsible ways,” he said. “Instead, investment fund managers are using the retirement savings of federal employees to push ESG and DEI agendas that conflict with their investors’ interests. The Stop TSP ESG Act would end that practice and restore accountability, and I urge my colleagues to pass it expeditiously.”
