Biden checked-‘n’-balanced Congress yesterday with the first veto of his presidency. The president nixed a bill that would’ve overturned a Labor Department rule allowing retirement fund managers to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in their investment choices.

Why pick this fight?

ESG investments take into account social and environmental impacts: Investment choices are based on considerations like companies’ carbon emissions and executive pay, in addition to potential returns.

Opposing ESG investing has become as much of a cultural marker for Republicans as listening to All Things Considered is for Democrats. The anti-ESG bill was introduced by Republicans in the House.

• GOP lawmakers want investment fund managers to focus exclusively on growing clients’ retirement savings by maximizing returns rather than advancing what they see as “woke” goals. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused Biden of promoting ESG to “fund a far-left political agenda.”
• Democrats say it’s important that fund managers have the option to focus on ESG. They argue that the dichotomy between social goals and investment returns is often false since the former can influence a company’s economic prospects over the long haul.

How did we get here?

During the Trump administration, the Labor Department moved to substantially limit ESG practices for 401(k) funds, but the Biden administration reversed course and made a rule to explicitly allow fund managers to incorporate ESG principles into their investment strategy. Republican lawmakers in both chambers supported the bill to reverse this policy, and Democrats overwhelmingly opposed it (aside from Senators Joe Manchin and Jon Tester and Rep. Jared Golden, who crossed party lines to vote “yea”).

Biden’s veto did not come as a surprise (he threatened to do it before the bill passed), but Republicans hope that passing the bill through Congress lays the foundation for a court battle that can get the rule thrown out.

Zoom out: So far, Biden has kept the presidential flexing to a minimum, compared to his predecessor’s 10 vetoes over four years and FDR’s record 372 vetoes in…12 years.—SK

Amazon will lay off another 9,000 staffers. The e-commerce giant recently finished letting go of 18,000 employees, but it’s already announcing another round of job cuts to reduce spending. The layoffs will take place over the next few weeks and will include workers in its cloud computing, Twitch, advertising, and human resources divisions. The reductions come after Amazon’s ranks swelled to help the company meet surging demand when nobody could go to stores during the pandemic.

Xi Jinping is visiting “dear friend” Vladimir Putin. China’s leader began a three-day visit to Russia yesterday, meeting with Putin even as the West tries to keep Russia isolated because of its invasion of Ukraine. China has called the trip a “journey of friendship, cooperation, and peace,” while the US has derided it as “diplomatic cover” for alleged Russian war crimes. The US is concerned China may try to sell weapons to Russia or push a peace deal that leaves Russian troops in Ukraine.

CDC issues warning on fungus. In a possible inspiration for future seasons of The Last of Us, the CDC said yesterday that a fungal threat to human health is growing at “an alarming rate” in health facilities across the US. Candida auris, a drug-resistant and sometimes deadly fungus that grows as a yeast, has now been detected in more than half of all states after first being found in the US in 2016. The fungus can cause infections and is especially dangerous for older people and people with weakened immune systems.

UBS’s emergency takeover of Credit Suisse may have been necessary to avert a financial crisis, but at least one group is Yosemite Sam-level angry over how the deal shook out.

Investors holding $17 billion worth of Credit Suisse’s additional tier-one bonds were shocked to discover that their $17 billion was now worth a grand total of…$0. The value of those bonds had been completely wiped out in the deal.

Quick no-background: Additional tier-one bonds, or AT1 bonds for short, were established after the 2008 financial crisis to reduce the likelihood that taxpayers would have to bail out a failed bank. AT1s are considered riskier assets, but with that risk comes higher potential returns.

So, if these bondholders knew they were taking on risk, why are they so upset? Mainly because, in this unusual deal, they got wiped out while shareholders didn’t. That’s not how the order of operations usually works:

• When a write-down happens, shareholders traditionally suffer losses before bondholders get hit.
• This deal flipped the food chain, and livid AT1 bondholders are now huddling up with lawyers about potential legal action.

Big picture: The Swiss government’s arrangement of the UBS–Credit Suisse deal has been bashed not only by AT1 bondholders, but also by lawmakers in Switzerland’s two biggest political parties and financial regulators from around the globe.—NF

If humanity wants to avoid a Mad Max-like future, the world needs to act now to rein in climate change, a new UN-backed report stressed. “The climate time-bomb is ticking,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “Humanity is on thin ice—and that ice is melting fast,” he added for dramatic effect.

Hundreds of scientists from around the world worked together to create the report. One finding the panel has “very high confidence” in? “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” Cue Lloyd Christmas saying, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

It’ll take some elbow grease—err, biofuel—to claw back climate change

Greenhouse gases need to be reduced by 50% by 2030 to keep climate change within 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels—and so far, the world’s on track to miss this target. By the early 2050s, we’d need to reach net zero CO2 emissions to stick to the goal.

Some key tools in the world’s “survival guide,” per the report, which…are all somewhat “duh”:

• Increase solar and wind power
• Make cities more bikeable and walkable
• Cut back on agricultural pollution and limit food waste

Looking ahead…Guterres is putting the onus on high-income nations (ahem, US) to use their resources to limit their CO2 emissions by 2040—ten years before the rest of the world.—JW

Stat: For the sixth year in a row, Finland clinched the title of the world’s happiest country, according to the annual World Happiness Report. Despite spending half the year in darkness, Nordic countries made up the top three, with Denmark in second place and Iceland in third. But even those of us who don’t live in a country where saunas are commonplace (the US came in as the No. 15 happy place) have found things to smile about: The report found that global averages for happiness didn’t drop during the pandemic.

Quote: “We haven’t asked for spring break in our city. We don’t want spring break in our city.”

Miami Beach’s mayor is not joining your chants of “spring break forever.” Instead, the city wants to curb its position as the ultimate destination for sand, sun, and too many margaritas after two fatal gun violence incidents involving out-of-towners occurred there over the weekend. To try to contain unruly crowds, Miami Beach implemented a curfew on Sunday, marking the fourth year in a row it’s had to do so during spring break, and restricted certain alcohol sales.

Read: Is a lack of independence driving the decline in teens’ mental health? (ParentData)

Bright lights, big cities: This video maps the largest cities in the world from 3000 BCE up to now.

Flipping the bird: An art project by Ai Weiwei lets you extend a middle finger anyplace you can find on Google Maps.

Meaty inflation indicator: See the price of a Big Mac in every state.

Neither snow nor rain: Behold the hardy types who opt for ice cream in all weather.

Healthcare insights: If you work in the healthcare industry, you’ve seen how fast news and trends can move. Enter Healthcare Brew, designed to keep you up to date.

Be 10x faster: GPT-4 (aka the tech that powers ChatGPT) is taking on unstructured data workflows. With Klarity’s new demo, you can automate workflows and even chat with your documents. Try it out.* 

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Brew Mini: Sometimes you gotta create a crossword puzzle that has no black squares at all. That’s what Mary did for you today. Play it here.

Twitter trivia

On this day in 2006, Jack Dorsey sent out the first-ever tweet: “just setting up my twttr.”

To celebrate that anniversary, let’s do some Twitter trivia. We’ll give you a tweet that’s among the top 30 most-liked tweets ever, and you have to identify who tweeted it.

1. “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in”
2. “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes”
3. “We did it, @JoeBiden”
4. “Hey guys, wanna feel old? I’m 40. You’re welcome.”
5. “Love U”

🛒 Retail leaders from Mejuri, Casper, and more shared the DTC marketing strategies they use to keep customers returning. Get the guide.

Today we are hosting a free event discussing leadership lessons with Sallie Krawcheck, founder and CEO of Ellevest and former head of BOA’s Global Wealth and Investment Management division. See you at noon EDT. Register now.

Finance professionals are the MVPs of taking measured risks—but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. We’re here to help. See how here.