News Coverage
CNBC: Senators Warren, Smith and Markey urge Biden to extend federal student loan pause to March 31, 2022
Since March 27, 2020, federal student loan interest rates have been set to 0% and payments have been paused, giving borrowers roughly $72 billion in student loan interest relief and helping many make ends meet during the pandemic. But payments are set to resume on Oct. 1, 2021.On June 21, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith and Edward J. Markey sent letters to the CEOs of all federal student loan servicers requesting information about the steps the companies are taking to … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
Military.com: Warren Extracts Agreement for Nominees to Refuse Defense Industry Work for 4 Years
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has lifted two nomination holds on prospective Defense Department officials after they agreed to stay out of the defense industry for at least four years following their work at the Pentagon, an aide familiar with the agreement confirmed to Military.com.The Democratic senator from Massachusetts halted the nominations of Frank Kendall, President Joe Biden's pick to be the next Air Force secretary, and Heidi Shyu, put forward to be the Pentagon's research and development … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
The Hill: Warren presses Army Corps of Engineers nominee on Dakota Access Pipeline
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she remains “very concerned” about the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Army Corps of Engineers’ handling of tribal opposition to the project in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.During a hearing for Michael Connor, President Biden’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Warren described herself as “very concerned about the Dakota Access pipeline and what it reflects about the Army Corps of Engineers’ relationship with … Continue Reading
July 12, 2021
Washington Post: The Technology 202: Sen. Warren calls for federal probe of mask sales on Amazon
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for federal regulators to look into Amazon’s handling of mask sales, warning that the company’s algorithms might be misleading consumers.The Democrat from Massachusetts accused the company of having deceptive search results and not providing customers enough information to ensure the masks it sells have received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. She wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate the matter, … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
CNBC: Sen. Elizabeth Warren slams Wells Fargo for causing potential credit score hit to its customers
Wells Fargo’s decision to pull customers’ credit lines was lambasted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.The bank has been notifying customers that their personal lines of credit would be closed, a move that could potentially damage their credit scores, CNBC reported Thursday.“Not a single customer should see their credit score suffer just because their bank is restructuring after years of scams and incompetence,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, tweeted Thursday evening. “Sending out a warning notice … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
MassLive: ‘We have built a childcare system on the backs of women’; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosts question and answer session in Springfield
Amidst a deluge of rain outside, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke to Western Massachusetts residents from downtown Springfield on Friday.She is our “shining star” through the “doom and gloom out there,” said Springfield Rep. Carlos González, one of several Western Massachusetts elected officials who attended the event.Warren drew a small crowd — likely limited by the day’s weather — whom she spoke to about measures she has supported in recent months as well as what she’s working … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
Wicked Local: In Lexington, Warren tackles climate crisis, small business recovery, and more
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren came before a small crowd next to the Lexington Visitors Center on July 7, cheering engulfed her first words. But what followed was a clear, passionate explanation of her role in Washington and her office's highest priorities. Before her speech, Warren sat for a wide ranging one-on-one interview with Wicked Local. ...Read the full article … Continue Reading
July 08, 2021
Reuters: Sen. Warren warns of cryptocurrency risks, presses SEC on oversight authority
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday warned of the growing risks posed to consumers and financial markets by the "highly opaque and volatile" cryptocurrency market and blasted its lack of regulation as unsustainable.Warren, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy, also raised her concerns in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, in an effort that could help lay the groundwork for legislation to … Continue Reading
July 08, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Sen. Warren says borrowers can 'breathe a sigh of relief' after major servicer drops out of federal student loan program
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) — a national student loan servicer that has been criticized for failing to forgive the debts of public servants — is planning to exit the federal student loan servicing business in December of this year.PHEAA, which administers the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and operates as FedLoan Servicing, has notified the Education Department (ED) that it would not seek a renewal of a 12-year federal student loan servicing … Continue Reading
July 08, 2021
Boston.com: Elizabeth Warren and Ayanna Pressley urge Baker administration to reconsider change to COVID-19 hospitalization data reporting
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley are urging Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration to reconsider the state’s recent move to stop reporting demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalizations, calling the metric a critical part of ensuring an equitable recovery from the pandemic.“Governor Baker must reverse course,” Pressley told Boston.com in a statement.In separate statement, Warren also pressed the Baker administration to continue to report COVID hospitalization data broken down by age, … Continue Reading
July 07, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Senators call for consumer protections against 'involuntary' medical debt
A group of Democratic senators are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to address the nation’s ever-growing medical debt.Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Chris van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) penned a letter to CFPB to share concerns about the cost burden many Americans could face as a result of COVID-19....Read the full article … Continue Reading
July 06, 2021
Defense News: Lawmakers say DoD undercounts civilian casualties
The Pentagon says fewer than two dozen civilians were killed in overseas anti-terrorism operations last year, but a pair of U.S. lawmakers doesn’t believe them.In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are asking for a formal probe into potential undercounting of civilian casualties by the Defense Department, saying the issue cuts to the core of military integrity and transparency.Last month, a Pentagon report acknowledged 23 … Continue Reading
July 01, 2021
Time: Elizabeth Warren, Bob Casey Ask For Data on Conservatorships After Britney Spears Testimony
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey want more federal oversight of the country’s guardianship system following Britney Spears’ emotional testimony about her conservatorship, they wrote in a letter on Thursday.The lawmakers are calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide information about data the agencies collect on the prevalence of guardianship in the U.S, any efforts the agencies have made to protect people under … Continue Reading
July 01, 2021
WGBH: After SCOTUS Upholds Arizona Voting Restrictions, Warren And Pressley Double Down On Ending The Filibuster
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley see the Supreme Court's Wednesday ruling upholding a restrictive Arizona voting law undermines the Voting Rights Act and means that Congress must act to expand voter protections, even if it means eliminating the Senate's filibuster.In a 6-3 ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld two Arizona laws that restrict voter access, one barring third parties from returning mail-in ballots and another allowing election officials to throw out … Continue Reading
July 01, 2021
Huffington Post: Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the large economic package Democrats hope to pass this year.Warren also endorsed the strategy of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has said she won't sign off on a smaller, bipartisan bill limited to funding roads, bridges and similar projects until she knows for sure that the larger package with other initiatives, including child care, is on … Continue Reading
June 30, 2021
Washington Post: The Technology 202: Elizabeth Warren calls on watchdog to probe Google for alleged advertising abuses
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on a federal watchdog to investigate Google for alleged abusive behavior in advertising, potentially adding to the tech giant’s regulatory woes. The Massachusetts Democrat, however, isn’t turning to the Justice Department, which already brought a historic antitrust case against the search giant. She wants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take on the case, arguing that the largely unregulated world of online advertising could fall under the … Continue Reading
June 30, 2021
The Verge: Sen. Warren calls for investigation of Google’s ‘Project Bernanke’
In a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called for an investigation of Google’s alleged manipulation of the marketplace for online ads, opening the door for a new federal regulator for digital advertising markets.Warren’s letter focuses on a program called “Project Bernanke,” revealed in April as part of a lawsuit against Google led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Under that program, Google allegedly used historical Google … Continue Reading
June 30, 2021
Lowell Sun: Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Lowell Community Health Center “even more extraordinary place today”
Lowell Community Health Center was the first community health center U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren had visited shortly after joining the Senate in 2013.At that point, the then-new facility had only been open for a few months in one portion of its Jackson Street building — and expansion was only “a distant dream” — but Warren still regarded it as “a remarkable opportunity for me to see the inner workings of community health at its best.”When she came back Tuesday for another tour and to learn … Continue Reading
June 29, 2021
The Verge: Sen. Warren calls for ‘meticulous’ review of Amazon’s MGM acquisition
Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling on the Federal Trade Commission for a thorough review of Amazon’s bid to acquire MGM, arguing that the deal could harm consumers and may have anticompetitive effects in the streaming space and beyond.In a letter addressed to newly sworn-in FTC chair Lina Khan and shared exclusively with The Verge, Warren urged the FTC to specifically and closely examine “the possible anticompetitive effects this deal will have on streaming services and entertainment products … Continue Reading
June 25, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Student loan servicer censured over 'what appears to be false' congressional testimony
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) sent a letter to a key student loan servicer CEO over "what appear to be false and misleading" statements during a congressional testimony on April 13, Yahoo Finance has learned.“We write to seek information on what appears to be false and misleading testimony that you provided at a hearing before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy on April 13, 2021," they wrote. ...Read the full … Continue Reading