On March 9, 2026, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins said that the 2025 federal government shutdown led the SEC to suspend reviews of shareholder proposals due to staffing constraints. Following the shutdown, the SEC said it would stop responding to most no-action requests during the 2025–26 proxy season.

The SEC's Rule 14a-8 allows shareholders to submit proposals for inclusion in company proxy statements. Companies have traditionally sought SEC no-action letters when they want to exclude a proposal, and those letters indicate whether staff would recommend enforcement action.

Speaking at the Council of Institutional Investors conference in Washington, D.C., Atkins said the SEC suspended most staff reviews of shareholder proposals until after the government reopened following a 42-day shutdown. He explained that SEC staff came back after the shutdown to a large volume of registration statements tied to time-sensitive prospective listings. After the conclusion of the shutdown, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance announced that it would continue offering views only on exclusion requests involving a company’s jurisdiction under state law.

The change shifted more responsibility for exclusion decisions from SEC staff to companies. Instead of receiving the agency’s usual no-action responses, companies had to decide for themselves whether proposals could be omitted from proxy materials under SEC rules.

Atkins reported that companies had excluded a large number of proposals under the new process, while some filers have sued companies using the process. He said that that the SEC will assess the results of the changed policy after this year’s proxy season.

"You'd be surprised at the amount of work that goes into analyzing these proposals and then rarely do they get majorities, so I think the view internally was mixed at best," Atkins said.

Shareholder proposals often cover environmental and social issues, and investors and companies have traditionally relied on SEC staff views when disputes arise over whether those proposals belong on the ballot.

Companies have historically asked the SEC to exclude ESG-related proposals under Rule 14a-8 by arguing they involve ordinary business operations, with SEC no-action letters indicating whether staff would recommend enforcement action.

Ballotpedia tracks support for and opposition to the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing movement. To learn more about arguments for, against, and about ESG, click here. For more information on reform proposals related to ESG policy, click here.