News Coverage
American Banker: Warren calls for higher capital ratio at NYCB
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is pressing the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to more carefully scrutinize New York Community Bancorp. The OCC in particular, Warren said, should impose an Individual Minimum Capital Ratio on the bank, making use of an obscure tool that could nonetheless heighten capital requirements for the beleaguered institution. "In order to protect the banking and financial system, it should do so as quickly as possible," Warren said … Continue Reading
September 26, 2024
Boston 25 News: Exclusive: Mass. Sen. Warren’s new bill bans private landlords from using NDAs in military housing
There is a new push in Congress to stop private housing companies from requiring military families to sign non-disclosure agreements in connection with their housing. This comes after our two-year-long investigation exposed widespread housing problems at homes on military bases run by private companies and revealed the use of NDAs when families tried to get housing issues resolved. The office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) shared details with us exclusively about her new bill, Restore … Continue Reading
September 26, 2024
The Hill: Democrats press corporations on lobbying spending ahead of tax fight
Democrats want to know how much big companies are paying major lobbies to lean on lawmakers ahead of the tax code expirations that are set for next year. Top executives at big companies, including Netflix, Ford and Tesla, received letters from Democratic lawmakers, demanding specifics on lobbying budgets and whether company boards approved them. "How much is AmerisourceBergen spending on lobbying efforts relating to renewing, amending, or maintaining the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?" the lawmakers … Continue Reading
September 26, 2024
The Hill: Warren investigation blasts financial adviser perks as fiduciary reforms stall
Financial advisers long have been required to avoid conflicts of interest and act as "fiduciaries," meaning they must act first and foremost in the best interest of their clients. But a new investigation by the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) found "a deeply troubling pattern of secretive incentives and rewards" for advisers, including expensive getaways in the Caribbean, luxury cruises on the Danube River and large cash bonuses among dozens of companies that provide such … Continue Reading
September 26, 2024
Miami Herald: Top Democrats want more arms trafficking resources for Haiti
A group of senior Democratic lawmakers are calling out the Biden administration for not doing enough to curb the trafficking of illegal firearms into Haiti from South Florida, demanding stricter screening at the region's ports. A letter sent to four different agencies with responsibility over weapons exports and signed by several senators and representatives, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, expresses "alarm" at the "rising lethality, quantity, and caliber of … Continue Reading
September 22, 2024
Business Insider: Student-loan companies that don't do their jobs should be fired, Elizabeth Warren says. Her next target is one that manages 8 million borrowers.
"Persistence pays," Warren told Business Insider in an interview. "We've stayed after Navient for years. Director Chopra's efforts at CFPB have finally helped millions of people get the relief they deserve and a guarantee that Navient will never work as a federal student loan servicer. That proves we can hold these guys accountable." Navient said in a statement following that settlement that "while we do not agree with the CFPB's allegations, this resolution is consistent with our go-forward … Continue Reading
September 21, 2024
USA TODAY: Voter registration is spiking, particularly among young adults
Voter registration is breaking records as Election Day approaches, particularly among young people, many of whom are first-time voters. On Tuesday's National Voter Registration Day more than 150,000 people registered through Vote.org, the most the organization has ever seen on that day. The organization registered 279,400 voters in all of last year. Last week, 337,826 people visited a link posted on Instagram by pop star Taylor Swift that directed them to their state's voter registration … Continue Reading
September 20, 2024
New York Times: Environmentalists Fear Subsidies for Carbon Capture Won’t Be Checked
Some activists are questioning whether the federal government can accurately verify a tax program for facilities that store planet-warming gases. Lucrative new tax subsidies for companies that catch the planet-warming gas carbon dioxide and store it deep underground were one of the few aspects of President Biden’s 2022 climate legislation that the oil industry embraced. The potential tax benefits spurred the industry, one of the largest contributors to the current climate crisis, to invest … Continue Reading
September 19, 2024
State House News Service: Warren, Cruz Team Up On Disaster Relief Bill
As a bill to attract more federal dollars to the Bay State moves to the governor, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is filing her own federal bill meant reform the way disaster relief is distributed to states -- changes she says could benefit Massachusetts as weather-related emergencies become more frequent. Sens. Warren, Ted Cruz of Texas and Congressmen Brian Babin of Texas and John Garamendi of California filed the bill Thursday to amend the law that dictates that the federal government can … Continue Reading
August 09, 2024
Fortune: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s salary should be cut instead of hiking fees on 80 million customers, Elizabeth Warren says
In a letter to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sent Thursday, Democratic lawmakers are calling on the bank to rethink imposing new fees on its 80 million retail customers, including potentially hiking checking account fees on tens of millions of them. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) expressed concerns over recent comments by Marianne Lake, Chase’s CEO of consumer and community banking, who said the bank would consider increasing checking account fees to make up for … Continue Reading
August 08, 2024
The Verge: Democrats push Sam Altman on OpenAI’s safety record
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) are calling for answers about how OpenAI handles whistleblowers and safety reviews after former employees complained that internal criticism is often stifled. "Given the discrepancy between your public comments and reports of OpenAI's actions, we request information about OpenAI's whistleblower and conflict of interest protections in order to understand whether federal intervention may be necessary," Warren and Trahan wrote in a letter … Continue Reading
August 07, 2024
Rolling Stone: ‘Life and Death’ for Pets: Elizabeth Warren Targets Firm Buying Veterinary Offices
Americans welcomed more pets into their homes throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, pet medical costs surged. Fortune recently highlighted one reason why: Private equity firms have rapidly acquired veterinary practices, and now own nearly 30 percent of the marketplace. The magazine's investigation focused on a Houston-area veterinary hospital owned by JAB Holding Company, a German-owned private equity firm best known for its investments in bakery chains and beverage companies. … Continue Reading
August 07, 2024
Rolling Stone: ‘Life and Death’ for Pets: Elizabeth Warren Targets Firm Buying Veterinary Offices
Americans welcomed more pets into their homes throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, pet medical costs surged. Fortune recently highlighted one reason why: Private equity firms have rapidly acquired veterinary practices, and now own nearly 30 percent of the marketplace. The magazine's investigation focused on a Houston-area veterinary hospital owned by JAB Holding Company, a German-owned private equity firm best known for its investments in bakery chains and beverage companies. … Continue Reading
August 06, 2024
New York Times: Dept. of Justice being asked to investigate Disney, Fox, Warner Bros joint venture
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Joaquin Castro have sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate and potentially prevent Disney, Fox and Warner Bros' from starting a joint venture that will combine the resources of ESPN, Fox Sports and TNT Sports in a direct-to-consumer streaming service called Venu Sports. In the letter, obtained by The Athletic, the three Democrats urged the Department of Justice to examine Venu Sports "and oppose it if it violates … Continue Reading
July 31, 2024
Warren urges the Fed to “follow the data”
As top Fed officials meet again on Wednesday to discuss whether to cut interest rates — the consensus is that they won’t yet — a trio of Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is urging the central bank to move faster. In a letter sent on Tuesday to Jay Powell, the Fed chair, that DealBook is first to report on, the lawmakers say that avoiding a cut now would give in to calls from some Republicans to refrain from taking such an action before the election in … Continue Reading
July 10, 2024
The Guardian: Senators accuse JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon of backtracking on climate commitments
JPMorgan Chase, the world’s biggest investor in fossil fuels, may have misled investors and the public by backtracking on its already weak climate and environmental commitments, six US senators have warned in a letter to the CEO Jamie Dimon. Although a climate-disrupted world demands stronger action by the financial sector to reduce emissions and protect nature, the Wall Street firm is heading in the opposite direction, say the upper chamber legislators, who include Senate banking committee … Continue Reading
July 10, 2024
The Hill: Lawmakers call for Pentagon to address ‘poor’ military housing conditions
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday called for the Defense Department to address "poor living conditions" at military houses for servicemembers and their families, pointing to particular concerns with private companies that oversee housing with what the congressional group considers to be unfair contracts. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, lawmakers said the military's "decades-old, terrible deals with private companies to provide military housing" has failed … Continue Reading
July 01, 2024
Roll Call: Lawmakers request review of two defense industry acquisitions
Three liberal Democrats pressed the Biden administration in writing on Sunday to “closely scrutinize” a pair of defense industry acquisitions to ensure they don’t worsen “price gouging” on military spare parts. The letter, obtained by CQ Roll Call, was sent to leaders at the Pentagon, Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Reps. John Garamendi of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin. Warren and Garamendi are Armed Services Committee … Continue Reading
October 06, 2021
Bloomberg: Warren Says Facebook Funds ‘Dark Money,’ Undermines Democracy
Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Facebook Inc., along with other social media giants, of using their wealth to exert influence on Washington in a way that undermines the democratic system.“The loudest voice in this hall is Facebook and the other giant corporations, they hire the lobbyists, they make the big campaign contributions. And even more importantly, they fund dark money -- the part that, you never even see their fingerprints on it,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in an … Continue Reading
October 06, 2021
New York Times: Lawmakers seek details on accounting firms after a New York Times report
Two Democratic lawmakers are seeking information from the country’s biggest accounting firms about the revolving door between the firm’s tax departments and top positions at the Treasury Department. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington made the request after The New York Times detailed how multinational accounting firms effectively draft tax rules from inside the government that benefit their clients. The Times found at least 35 … Continue Reading
