Arizona Senate nominee Rep. Ruben Gallego twice voted to defend the Biden administration’s rule allowing pension fund managers to use so-called environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) when choosing investments for workers’ retirement plans, which some lawmakers have likened to “awakening “. “Banking practice oriented towards left-wing programs.
Gallego’s move, in turn, also alerted a close friend and the donor company he invested in. In 2019, an Arizona Democrat announced an acquisition of up to $50,000 in non-public shares in Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC, a financial technology company that partners with FDIC member banks.
However, Gallego did not disclose the purchase in its financial disclosure report until 2022, despite members of Congress having to declare assets worth more than $1,000.
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Democrat Ruben Gallego represents Arizona’s 7th congressional district in the US House of Representatives.
Aspiration was founded in 2013 as a “digital bank for environmentally conscious consumers” but has since focused on selling carbon credits, according to Forbes. It is also one of the few financial technology companies “totally embrace the burgeoning environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment movement,” the publication wrote in 2021.
In the same year’s Securities and Exchange Commission report, Aspiration reported that nearly 70 percent of its revenue comes from ESG services.
The company was co-founded and co-owned by Joe Sunberg, a longtime friend and donor to Gallego. The couple attended Harvard together, and Gallego attended Sunberg’s 2021 wedding in Puerto Rico, social media posts reveal. Sunberg has given more than $20,000 to Gallego campaigns and PAC leadership since 2014, according to a search of federal documents.
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Rep. Ruben Gallego, Arizona, at a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee in Rayburn, Jan. 14, 2015 (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Gallego first reported banking with Aspiration in 2017. His most recent financial disclosure shows that he owns shares in Aspiration Redwood Fund — a “100% non-fossil fuel ESG fund” with reportedly “high fees and poor results” — and non-publicly traded shares in Aspiration Fund Advisor LLC. “.
According to his financial disclosure forms, Gallego has received $12,200 in income from his Aspire assets since 2017.
“It was a Republican messaging bill passed by the Republicans,” Gallego communications director Jacques Petit said in an interview with Fox News Digital after two votes against HJ Resolution 30, which would have blocked a Labor Department rule allowing employers to consider ESG factors when choosing investment for investment. workers’ pension plans.
However, the joint resolution received bipartisan support. Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden endorsed him in the House of Representatives, while Montana Democratic Senator John Tester and West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin supported him in the Senate.
It did not specifically address Gallego’s investments or his relationship with Sunberg. Instead, he said the information in the investigation was “clutching at straws.”
Aspire also runs the Aspiration Impact Foundation, a non-profit organization that gives money to far-left causes. The nonprofit has donated $1,000 to Project Trevor for climate change initiatives, its tax forms show. The Trevor Project also advocates for “using proper transgender terms”, considers gender a social construct, and has published a guide on how to be an ally to transgender people and young non-binary people.
In addition, the foundation provided a $5,000 grant to climate activist group 350 New Orleans, whose parent group has called for a ban on all new oil and gas projects and seeks to “protect” fossil fuel companies.
ESG EMEGES INVEST RULE AS THE MAIN GOAL FOR REPUBLICANS FIGHTING BIDEN
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the powers of the Department of Defense and its functions related to civilian law enforcement in Washington, D.C., USA, July 9, 2020. (Greg Nash/Poole via REUTERS)
The Biden administration has indicated that ESG is a top priority. Last November, the Department of Labor unveiled a rule that went into effect on January 30 that allows managers to take into account environmental and social issues in investment solutions for pension funds of more than 152 million Americans.
Gallego first voted against the anti-rule resolution on 28 February. Almost a month later, on March 20, Biden vetoed the bill. Days after the veto, on March 23, Gallego voted against overriding Biden’s veto when an attempt to override the veto failed.
A study by UCLA and NYU earlier this year found that over the past five years, ESG funds have lagged 6.3% to 8.9% compared to the broader market on average. .
Since then, Republicans have set their sights on ESG banking. In late April, Arizona Republican Andy Barr announced he would roll out legislation to prevent banks from denying fair access to financial services in line with “awakening corporate cancel culture” standards, preventing financial institutions from being used for political purposes.
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“Banks should make lending decisions based on objective, risk-based metrics, not corporate cancellation culture standards,” Barr previously told Fox News Digital.
“My law codifies the Fair Access Rule to ensure that radical environmentalists, gun control advocates, crypto antagonists and other political activists cannot use financial institutions as weapons in their struggle to achieve their political goals,” he said. .
Brooke Singman of Fox News Digital provided the coverage.
Joe Schoffstall is a political producer and reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Joe.Schoffstall@Fox.com and on Twitter: @joeschoffstall