June 5 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by Republican-led states seeking to strike down a rule allowing socially-conscious investing by employee retirement plans. The states moved last month for a ruling permanently blocking the rule, which took effect Jan. 30. The Biden administration on Friday said the rule makes clear that retirement plans must base decisions primarily on financial factors. But unlike the Trump-era rule, it also recognizes that issues such as climate change and social justice can impact companies' long-term financial health, the Justice Department said. The judge 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: Biden, Trump, Sean Reyes, John Scott, Joe Biden, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Donald Trump, Kacsmaryk, Daniel Wiessner, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Republican, U.S . Department of Justice, U.S . Department of Labor, Trump, Justice Department, Interim Texas, Congress, District, Biden, Thomson Locations: Amarillo , Texas, Utah, Texas, U.S, Amarillo, Albany , New York