Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer collected more campaign donations from wealth management company BlackRock than any other Congressional lawmaker, according to the Bongino Report. Notably, the New York Democrat is also the biggest supporter of the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement pushed by the firm.
The nonprofit watchdog group OpenSecrets revealed that Schumer received $103,950 in individual contributions and $10,000 in 2022. This revelation comes as Schumer is behind a major push to accept ESG guidance on investing, Fox Business News reported.
The ESG opposition group American Accountability Foundation has targeted Schumer as the GOP attempts to strike down a Department of Labor rule that would consider ESG when investing on behalf of 150 Americans. BlackRock is an influential force behind the "woke" investment strategy.
"Chuck Schumer's enthusiasm for ESG is no surprise given his tight connections with corporate America and all the money he's taking from ESG heavyweight BlackRock," the foundation's president Tom Jones said. "ESG is global corporations' war on the American dream and Schumer has sided with them over the American people," he added.
Schumer has been stumping for ESG while peaking on the Senate floor and in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. "In the House, Republicans just passed a bill that would reverse a Labor Department rule recognizing that retirement fiduciaries may use ESG when evaluating investments," he wrote.
"That bill will soon come before the Senate. I will strongly oppose this ill-considered proposal," Schumer promised.
"ESG opponents are trying to turn it into a dirty acronym, deploying attacks they have long used for elements of a so-called woke agenda. They call ESG wokeness. They call it a cult. They call it an incursion into free markets," he went on.
"We’ve heard it all before. I say ESG is just common sense," Schumer claimed.
Schumer went on to sing the praises of investment firms that use ESG in their strategies, though he did not reveal that he's bought and paid for by one of them. "Republicans talk about their love of the free market, small government and letting the private sector do its work," Schumer began with the setup.
"But their obsession with eliminating ESG would do the opposite, forcing their own views down the throats of every company and investor. Republicans would prevent investors from adapting to the future, for their own good and the good of the country," Schumer claimed.
"I say let the market work. If that naturally leads to consideration of ESG factors, then Republicans should practice what they’ve long preached and get out of the way," he said while knowing Democrats are seeking to use the full force of the government to bolster the practice.
In contrast to what Schumer claims, advisory firm Glass Lewis working on behalf of AAF found ESG rules "threaten corporate competitiveness and erode shareholder value." This is because it encourages changes that are financially detrimental, like capping emissions and imposing diversity quotas on corporate boards.
Moreover, ESG influences "promote ideological bullying and encourage activists to shame individuals and companies that support conservative groups and causes" antithetical to a free market. "Companies like Glass Lewis and BlackRock should be working to maximize shareholder value, not using their power to implement the Democrat Party's agenda," Jones said.
It wasn't long ago that Democrats claimed the Republican Party was beholden to big business interests. Now it's clear the Democrats are in bed with firms like BlackRock and fully willing to do their bidding.
