(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday joined the House in passing a bill that would overturn a Labor Department rule allowing investment managers, or fiduciaries, to consider ideological factors rather than the return on investment when investing their clients' money.

The so-called ESG rule (environment, social, and governance investing) allows fiduciaries to screen investments, putting political considerations ahead of profit.

Two Senate Democrats -- Joe Manchin and Jon Tester -- joined every Republican in voting 50-46 to scrap the rule, which took effect in February. The Republican-led House passed a similar bill on Tuesday, 216-204, with only one Democrat joining all Republicans.

President Biden is expected to veto the resolution of disapproval.

“My message to the White House is simple: Keep your hands off Hoosiers’ 401(k)s," Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), the lead sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

"President Biden is putting Hoosiers’ retirement savings at risk by changing the rules to allow money managers to invest based on progressive political goals rather than on the best rate of return.

"So many Americans’ retirement savings are already taking a hit from his inflation crisis,” said Senator Braun. “President Biden will now receive a searing, bipartisan rebuke of his policy that’s going to hurt Americans’ retirement savings.”

The Biden ESG rule explicitly permits ERISA retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and corporate governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights.

The ESG rule replaces a previous rule which mandated that fiduciary decisions be made solely on getting the best returns for the 152 million American workers that depend upon ERISA for their retirement. "Because ERISA covers most employer-sponsored retirement plans, we’re talking about $11.7 trillion in assets here," Braun said.

(The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.)

Braun noted that retirement plan participants could unknowingly be enrolled in ESG funds, which may not align with their political views. Further, over the past five years, ESG funds underperformed the broader market.

“President Biden is jeopardizing retirement savings for millions of Americans for a political agenda," Braun said. "In a time when Americans’ 401(k)s have already taken such a hit due to market downturns and record high inflation, the last thing we should do is encourage fiduciaries to make decisions with a lower rate of return for purely ideological reasons. That’s why we are proud to stand up against this rule for the millions of Americans who depend on these funds for their retirement.”

Dozens of Republicans added their objections, as noted on Braun's website.

Here are a few of their comments:

--“Retirement plans should be solely focused on delivering maximum returns, not advancing a political agenda. If Congress doesn’t block the Department of Labor’s rule greenlighting ESG investing in retirement plans, retirees will suffer diminished returns on the investment of their hard earned money. It’s time for Congress to act and I applaud Senator Braun and our colleagues for renewing this fight.” –-Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.)

--“The Biden administration is doing everything in its power to force radical ESG policies on the American people. I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this resolution of disapproval that would take the U.S. Department of Labor out of the ESG business and put Americans’ retirement security first.” --Senator John Thune

--“President Biden’s attempt to use Americans’ retirement plans to bankroll the woke agenda is fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong. Congress must reject this rule before American families suffer even more just so that Biden can support the Left’s pet projects.” --Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.)

--“Americans who work today and save for tomorrow need to optimize their returns to afford life in retirement. Political agendas like Joe Biden’s ‘woke’ ESG requirements pressures financial experts to shift potential gains away from American retirees and into Joe Biden and the Department of Labor’s political projects. These efforts harm Americans saving for retirement by pressuring investing specialists to use Americans’ life savings to fund the radical agenda in the White House.” –-Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)

--“President Biden and his administration are clearly more concerned with furthering the radical left’s anti-American agenda than they are with supporting American workers and their hard-earned retirement savings. I’m proud to join Sen. Braun and Rep. Barr in efforts to protect the retirement savings of Kentuckians and workers nationwide that have already been subjected to the repercussions of Biden’s reckless economic policies.” —Sen. Rand Paul

--“President Biden should stop playing politics with Americans’ hard-earned retirement savings. Families continue to struggle to pay their bills as prices soar. Prioritizing woke nonsense will only put them into an even deeper hole.” —Sen. Marco Rubio

You can read many more similar criticisms here.