Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act

This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require retirement plan fiduciaries to prioritize financial factors - like risk and return - over non-financial goals (such as environmental or social impact) when making investment decisions. It directly affects retirement plan managers (e.g., for 401(k)s and pensions), prohibiting them from sacrificing investment returns or increasing risk to advance non-pecuniary objectives. The law allows limited use of non-financial factors only if fiduciaries document why financial factors alone couldn’t distinguish investments and show the choice aligns with participants’ financial interests. The changes take effect 12 months after enactment.