President Joe Biden uses his veto for the first time

AP reported that Mr. Biden's move would block a pension plan-based investment bill recently passed by the US Congress .

The bill — introduced by Republicans — would prohibit the government from considering environmental impacts or potential lawsuits when making investment decisions from people's retirement plans.

In a video released by the White House, Mr. Biden explained that he used his veto to block risks to the retirement funds of people across the country.

President Joe Biden. Photo: AP

The bill — if passed — would restore a Trump-era ban on federal retirement plan managers taking into account factors like climate change, social impact or pending lawsuits.

The veto could also help appease environmentalists concerned about a controversial major oil drilling project in Alaska.

According to AP, Mr. Biden can successfully veto it because only 3 Democrats in Congress (1 in the House of Representatives and 2 in the Senate) support the Republican bill, not enough to gather 2/3 members in both houses to override the veto.

Statistics show that Donald Trump has vetoed 10 bills during his presidency. Another president who vetoed many bills was Barack Obama (vetoed 12 bills during his 2 terms).

On the same day, March 20, Mr. Biden signed into law a bill requiring the release of intelligence documents linking the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak to a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

"We need to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19, including the potential connection to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. As we implement this law, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible," Biden said.

Also according to Mr. Biden, in 2021, after taking office, he "directed the intelligence community to use every tool at their disposal to investigate the origins of COVID-19".

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-quoc-te/tong-thong-joe-biden-lan-dau-tien-dung-quyen-phu-quyet-20230321131734375.htm