House Republicans’ New Anti-ESG Report Mirrors Project 2025 Proposals

August 5, 2024

House Republicans' New Anti-ESG Report Mirrors Project 2025 Proposals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new final report issued by House Republicans to conclude its 18-month oil industry-fueled crusade against responsible business environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices mirrors sections of the Heritage Foundation's controversial "Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership" report that similarly attack ESG practices.

The House Republicans' new report, titled "The Failure of ESG: An Examination of Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in the American Boardroom and Needed Reforms," comes a year after a so-called "Anti-ESG month," when House Republicans held a series of six hearings consuming over 16 hours of time in the People's House purportedly to shed light on problems and make the case for legislative solutions. In the end, not a single one of the 16 proposed "Anti-ESG" bills has even received a floor vote, much less become law. The House Republicans' report instead reiterates the same ideological critiques of responsible investing and calls for similar draconian solutions drawn out in the Project 2025 "Mandate" report sections proposing to limit investor information and options and slash the oversight authority of the Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Labor.

Jon Golinger, a democracy advocate with Public Citizen, issued the following statement in response to the new report:

"It's fitting that this report is titled 'Failure' because that's exactly what the House Republicans' anti-ESG crusade was. It was clear from the first anti-ESG hearing that this was little more than a dog and pony show to please their benefactors in the oil industry, right-wing billionaires, and the Heritage Foundation, who have fueled the anti-ESG ideological crusade from the start."

"Whether the failed anti-ESG crusade in Congress is dead for good or just dead for now, the American people clearly oppose Congress cutting off investment information and options. It's no surprise Project 2025 is now pushing the same bad ideas."

As detailed in a Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance article published in June, public opinion polling commissioned by Public Citizen in the wake of the Congressional hearings found widespread and bipartisan opposition to the proposed anti-ESG policies. A national survey of 1,000 likely 2024 voters, conducted by Lake Research Partners, found:

• More than half of voters (56%) oppose, while less than a third (30%) support, Congress passing legislation to limit the type of information about a corporation's business record that is disclosed to pension and retirement fund managers, investors, and the public.

• This opposition crossed partisan lines - Democrats 58% oppose; Independents 63% oppose; Republicans 52% oppose.

• Opposition to some of the specific ideas being proposed was even stronger. For example, voters strongly oppose Congress creating a new advisory committee made up of corporate executives paid for by taxpayer dollars who will have the legal authority to influence government regulators' decision-making on corporate activities, as one of the main proposed anti-ESG bills (H.R. 4790) would do.
• Over two-thirds of voters oppose the creation of this corporate executive advisory committee (68%). Republicans are even more opposed to the creation of this committee (73% oppose) but Democrats (64% oppose) and Independents (67% oppose) are also overwhelmingly opposed to it.

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