U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, declined to block the rule, which took effect Jan. 30. The judge granted a petition by President Joe Biden's administration to dismiss the Republican-led states' lawsuit claiming the rule will jeopardize millions of Americans' retirement savings. Kacsmaryk in a 14-page opinion rejected the states' claim that the rule violates the federal law governing retirement plans. The rule still requires that financial considerations come first, and does not create "an overarching regulatory bias in favor of ESG strategies," the judge wrote. Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, in March rejected the Biden administration's claim that the states were improperly "judge shopping" by filing the lawsuit in Amarillo, where Kacsmaryk is the only judge.

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Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Joe Biden's, Biden, Donald Trump's, Trump, Daniel Wiessner, Dan Whitcomb, David Gregorio, Lincoln Organizations: Major Economies, White, REUTERS, Companies Liberty Energy, Biden, U.S, District, Republican, U.S . Department of Justice, Liberty Energy Inc, Democrat, Trump, Thomson Locations: Energy, Washington , U.S, Texas, Amarillo , Texas, Utah, New Orleans, Amarillo