News Coverage
McClatchy: Senators want broader probe of FEMA contracts in Puerto Rico
by Kevin G. Hall
Four prominent Democratic senators on Thursday asked the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security to broaden an ongoing investigation into contracting and hurricane relief problems in Puerto Rico. More than a year after Hurricane Maria's devastating rampage across Puerto Rico, the island is struggling to rebuild. The letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and three other senators, directs the inspector general to look closely at the $1.2 billion Tu Hogar Renace … Continue Reading
November 30, 2018
The Nation: Elizabeth Warren Just Took a Crucial Stand for Democracy and Enlightened Internationalism
by John Nichols
Warren is proposing to break the grip of billionaire campaign donors and corporate interests on US foreign policy. Americans who seek an enlightened alternative to the crudely nationalist and frequently antidemocratic ideology of Trumpism, and to a broader misdirection of US foreign policy that began long before the current president took office, got it this week from Elizabeth Warren. "Our country is in a moment of crisis decades in the making, a moment in which America's middle class has … Continue Reading
November 29, 2018
Vox: Elizabeth Warren wants to outflank Trump on trade
by Matthew Yglesias
"His actual policies aren't stopping [GM] or others like them from continuing to put corporate profits ahead of American workers." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) isn't ready to cede trade policy themes to President Donald Trump. In a speech set to be delivered Thursday afternoon at American University, in Washington, DC, Warren unloads a biting critique of a generation's worth of neoliberal trade policy consensus in Washington and - strikingly - insists that despite Trump's embrace of … Continue Reading
November 26, 2018
WBUR: Congress Members Call For Columbia Gas Executives To Resign Over Merrimack Valley Disaster
by Philip Marcelo
Congress members called for executives at the utility company to blame for September's natural gas explosions and fires in Massachusetts to step down Monday as they held a special hearing into the disaster. The six House and Senate members from Massachusetts and New Hampshire who held the hearing at a packed middle school gymnasium in Lawrence took aim at the corporate culture at Columbia Gas of Massachusetts and its parent company, Indiana-based NiSource. They painted a picture of a … Continue Reading
November 20, 2018
Bloomberg: Senator Warren Calls on Companies to Contribute to the Toys 'R' Us Worker Fund
by Rick Green
Senator Elizabeth Warren calls for six companies to contribute to new hardship fund for Toys "R" Us workers. Warren says it's "inexcusable" for investors in defunct toyseller to withhold contributions. Urges other firms that were involved with company to contribute to new $20m fund created by KKR and Bain Capital; says former workers owed a total of $75m in severance. Read more on Bloomberg's website … Continue Reading
November 20, 2018
American Banker: Warren lays into Navient CEO over Education Dept. Audit
by Neil Haggerty
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has accused Navient's chief executive of false statements related to allegations of improper practices facing the student loan servicer. In a letter to Navient CEO Jack Remondi, Warren claims that he denied the merits of a lawsuit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging that Navient had steered struggling borrowers into expensive loan forbearance programs. But at the time, Warren said, Navient was being audited by the Department of Education. The … Continue Reading
November 15, 2018
Reuters: Senator Warren presses regulators on leveraged lending
by Kristen Haunss
US Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to regulators Wednesday expressing concerns about underwriting standards in the leveraged loan market, which she says could pose serious risks to the economy.In the letter, Warren questioned regulators on what their agencies’ plans are to address what she describes as “growing risks” in the leveraged lending market as well as proposed changes to rules governing the Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) market, the largest buyers of leveraged loans. She … Continue Reading
November 15, 2018
CNBC: Elizabeth Warren says the Fed is making the same mistakes as before the crisis: 'Deeply worrisome'
by Jeff Cox
Ahead of the financial crisis, a buildup of leverage on bank balance sheets that went largely undetected by regulators helped cause the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Sen. Elizabeth Warrenis afraid the same thing is happening again a decade later.The Massachusetts Democrat said Thursday that she thinks the Federal Reserve and its fellow watchdogs of the financial system are overlooking a dangerous buildup of loans going to companies that are already deeply in debt. The so-called … Continue Reading
November 15, 2018
NBC: Elizabeth Warren's ethics bill is moving to the House. Does the new Democratic Congress want it?
by Benjy Sarlin
WASHINGTON — A sweeping ethics bill by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is making the jump to the newly Democratic House.Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., plans to introduce companion legislation in the coming days that she hopes will become a rallying point for progressives.The Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act is headlined by a lifetime ban on lobbying by former lawmakers, presidents and top executive branch appointees, but includes a wide array of additional provisions.Read the full … Continue Reading
October 31, 2018
CNN: Elizabeth Warren: Trump administration letting foreign firms skip tariffs
by Katie Lobosco
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is questioning the Trump administration's enforcement of steel tariffs, saying that a majority of early waivers granted went to foreign-owned companies.Companies with operations in the United States, but headquartered in Japan and China, were more likely to have their requests granted than American companies seeking relief, according to a review done by Warren's staff of more than 900 decisions made during the first 30 days that responses were … Continue Reading
October 31, 2018
Wall Street Journal: Lawmaker Faults Tariff Waivers’ Fairness
by Josh Zumbrun
WASHINGTON—Shortly after the U.S. first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum this year, in part to crack down on oversupply from China and its closest trading partners, the Department of Commerce granted exclusions to a handful of Chinese-owned and Japanese-owned companies with U.S. subsidiaries, enabling them to continue duty-free imports of Chinese and Japanese steel. These exclusions are the focus of a letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who has been … Continue Reading
October 26, 2018
Slate: Elizabeth Warren’s New Housing Proposal Is Actually a Brilliant Plan to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
by Mehrsa Baradaran and Darrick Hamilton
Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a $450 billion housing plan called the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act. The proposal is a comprehensive and bold step toward providing affordable housing for the most vulnerable Americans. The bill is the first since the Fair Housing Act with the explicit intent of redressing the iterative effects of our nation’s sordid history of housing discrimination. Critically, it has the potential to make a substantive dent in closing our enormous and … Continue Reading
October 22, 2018
MassLive: Elizabeth Warren touts bill to create 3 million new affordable housing units across US
by Shannon Young
SPRINGFIELD -- With housing authorities struggling to meet demand due to growing waitlists, a low number of available apartments and aging infrastructure, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, called Monday for the federal government to build 3 million new housing units across the country. Warren, who is up for re-election in November, made her pitch while discussing her proposed "American Housing and Economic Mobility Act" with Western Massachusetts housing officials, elected leaders … Continue Reading
October 18, 2018
CNBC: Elizabeth Warren calls on Fed to maintain growth cap on Wells Fargo until it fires CEO Tim Sloan
by Tucker Higgins
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell calling on the Fed to maintain its growth cap on Wells Fargo until the bank replaces CEO Tim Sloan.Warren, a consumer advocate who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, has long been Wells Fargo's chief critic in Congress, repeatedly calling for top officials at the lender to be removed.Read the full story on the Wall Street Journal website … Continue Reading
October 17, 2018
CNN Business: Elizabeth Warren wants Toys 'R' Us owners to take care of its 30,000 laid off workers
by Chris Isidore
Senator Elizabeth Warren is urging the companies responsible for the demise of Toys "R" Us to take care of its former employees.Warren, who has said she's considering a run for president in 2020, wrote to five investment firms that had advocated for a liquidation of Toys "R" Us assets and asked them to consider supporting a severance fund.Two of the company's owners, Bain Capital and KKR, have discussed setting up such a fund, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The company's … Continue Reading
October 16, 2018
Wall Street Journal: Elizabeth Warren Takes Aim at Firms That Pulled the Plug on Toys ‘R’ Us
by Gretchen Morgenson and Lillian Rizzo
The decision by five investment companies to pull the plug on a Toys “R” Us reorganization earlier this year is coming under fire from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. In an Oct. 16 letter to the companies, Ms. Warren (D., Mass.) asked why the investment firms had pressed to liquidate the retailer amid viable options to reorganize it and she urged them to contribute to a fund benefiting laid-off employees. The letter went to executives at Solus Alternative Asset Management, Angelo … Continue Reading
October 04, 2018
Kaiser Health News: Congress Targets Misuse of Hospice Drugs
by Melissa Bailey
Hospice workers would be allowed to destroy patients’ unneeded opioids, reducing the risk that families misuse them, according to one little-noticed provision in the bipartisan opioids bill headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for his likely signature.The bill would empower hospice staff to destroy opioid medications that are expired, no longer needed by the patient because of a change in treatment or left over after the patient dies.A spokesperson for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, … Continue Reading
October 03, 2018
HousingWire: Warren unveils sweeping legislation to address affordable housing crisis
by Alcynna Lloyd
Affordability concerns continue to plague homeowners and renters across the country, forcing organizations and legislators to seek a solution.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., recently introduced a proposal that could potentially ease America’s ongoing affordable housing crisis.The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, which Warren introduced at the end of September, aims to provide $470 billion for affordable housing trust funds and expand the variety of financial institutions subject to … Continue Reading
September 28, 2018
Fast Company: Elizabeth Warren has a plan to help end the housing crisis
by Eillie Anzilotti
America’s housing crisis reaches across income levels and geography, but the further one goes down the socioeconomic ladder, the more dire it becomes: Currently, the U.S. is short 7.2 million homes for the 11 million residents living on very low incomes. The affordable rental market is so constrained that 71% of low-income families spend over half their income on rent. Absent any meaningful federal investment in affordable housing in the last few decades, local governments, nonprofits, and in … Continue Reading
September 27, 2018
Glamour: Elizabeth Warren Has a Powerful Message for Sexual Assault Survivors Watching the Kavanaugh Hearing
by Celeste Katz and Samantha Leach
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday spoke with Glamour exclusively about the historic Senate hearing involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican push to move forward with his confirmation, calling it "fundamentally wrong." At the Hart Senate Office building, where Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford was also testifying, Warren stood alongside Ford's supporters, telling Glamour that she was "here with people of conscience who believe that when a woman … Continue Reading
