News Coverage
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
June 25, 2021
Business Insider: Elizabeth Warren said a student-loan CEO gave false information to Congress. A Republican senator agreed.
As chair of the Senate subcommittee on economic policy, Elizabeth Warren in April invited the CEOs of the country's major student-loan servicers to testify on the impact of student debt on borrowers.She, and the subcommittee's Republican ranking member, John Kennedy, say that one of them may have given false testimony.On Wednesday, Warren and Kennedy sent a letter to Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) CEO James Steeley regarding "what appear to be false and misleading" … Continue Reading
June 24, 2021
The Hill: Warren, Cassidy want hearing on new Alzheimer's drug coverage
Bipartisan senators are calling for a hearing into how the Medicare program could, or even should, cover an expensive new Alzheimer's drug with questionable benefit.Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) want the Senate Finance Committee to examine the challenges facing Medicare that were brought about by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to approve Biogen's Aduhelm....Read the full … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
NBC: Democrats call on Biden to extend pause of student loan payments
WASHINGTON — Democrats on Capitol Hill are urging President Joe Biden to extend the federal student loan payment moratorium by at least six months as the economy continues to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.In a letter to Biden obtained by NBC News, a group of Democratic lawmakers asked him to take action before the Sept. 30 deadline when loan forbearance is set to expire, requesting he extend the pause until March 31, 2022, or until the economy bounces back to pre-pandemic employment … Continue Reading
June 21, 2021
CNBC: Senators Warren, Smith, Markey warn of ‘extraordinary financial hardship’ when federal student loan payments resume
When the coronavirus pandemic first swept the United States in March 2020, student debt relief was among the first policies enacted to help struggling Americans. Since March 27, 2020, federal student loan interest rates have been set to 0% and payments have been paused. But the policy is set to expire on Oct. 1, 2021.On Monday, 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 … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
CNBC: Sen. Warren presses major pharma trade group on efforts to block Covid vaccine patent waivers
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing the CEO of a major pharmaceutical trade group on its lobbying efforts against a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines that would help boost production of the shots for poorer nations.Warren and other lawmakers asked how much money the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, and its member companies spent this year lobbying Congress and White House officials in opposition to the waiver, in a … Continue Reading
June 12, 2021
WCVB: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Jim McGovern support striking nurses at St. Vincent Hospital
WORCESTER, Mass. — A U.S. senator and a U.S. representative from the Massachusetts congressional delegation showed their support for the striking nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester on Saturday.Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jim McGovern, of the 2nd District, and other labor leaders attended a rally across the street from the hospital on what marked the 97th day of the strike against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare.The strike, which began on March 8, is now the longest nurses strike in … Continue Reading
June 09, 2021
Bloomberg: Crypto Is ‘Wild West’ Needing Consumer Protections, Warren Says
The U.S. government needs to step up oversight of the digital currency market and find ways to protect consumers from scams stemming from the rapid rise of cryptocurrencies, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday.Warren, in a Bloomberg TV interview, called the market for cryptocurrencies the “wild West,” and said digital currency is “not a good way to buy and sell things and not a good investment and an environmental disaster.”Earlier in the day, Warren chaired a … Continue Reading
