News Coverage
DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none
After installing anti-fraud checks for benefit claims made over the phone early last month, the Social Security Administration is considering walking back the policy after finding only two cases that had a high probability of being fraudulent. The anti-fraud tool set up last month after weeks of changes to the agency’s telephone policies has slowed retirement claim processing by 25% and led to a "degradation of public service,” according to an internal May document obtained by Nextgov/FCW … Continue Reading
May 12, 2025
NBC News: Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants
The Trump administration spent at least $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to figures provided to Congress by the U.S. military. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised. Guantanamo has held a total of just under 500 migrants since Trump announced the effort in January, and it has never held more than 200 … Continue Reading
May 09, 2025
ABC News: Bipartisan pair of senators applaud DOJ investigation into egg producers
A bipartisan pair of senators applauded the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into major egg producers over rising prices and called on the department to look even further into the issue in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater late Thursday evening. "We write to express support for the Department of Justice's reported investigation into anticompetitive practices in the U.S. egg industry," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Jim Banks wrote. "As you are … Continue Reading
May 08, 2025
The Intercept: Trump Army Appointee Should Sell His Anduril Stock, Sen. Warren Demands
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for President Trump’s pick for Under Secretary of the Army to sell his stock in a defense contractor that experts say would pose a clear conflict of interest. In a federal ethics agreement first reported by The Intercept, Michael Obadal, Trump’s pick for the second most powerful post at the Army, acknowledged held equity in Anduril Industries, where he has worked for two years as an executive. Obadal said that contrary to ethics norms, he will not divest his … Continue Reading
May 08, 2025
The ‘big, beautiful bill’
We’ve got two sets of numbers to dig into today. The first comes from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Warren during a recent Senate vote-a-rama proposed amendments to let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax rates expire for uber-wealthy filers. The amendments began with folks who made $10 million in taxable income in a year, then $100 million, then $500 million, then $1 billion. All those amendments died during the vote-a-rama, but Warren asked the Joint … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
HuffPost: Newly Confirmed Social Security Commissioner Faces Bipartisan Pressure Over DOGE Cuts
Fresh off his confirmation by the Senate on Tuesday to be the new commissioner of Social Security, Frank Bisignano faces a pile of oversight demands from Democrats and Republicans alike. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a group of Democrats on a Wednesday letter to Bisignano noting his predecessor in charge of the Social Security Administration ignored their queries while overseeing dramatic upheavals at the agency. “We are extraordinarily concerned about the future of the SSA under the … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
KPBS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls on Marine Corps to pause contract with Oceanside-based Frontwave Credit Union
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for closer scrutiny of the Marine Corps’ relationship with Oceanside-based Frontwave Credit Union, which handles direct deposits for thousands of Marine recruits every year. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Massachusetts Democrat requested the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) hold off on renewing Frontwave’s contract with the Marine Corps until the department can ensure servicemembers “have adequate protections in place to prevent … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
Business Insider: Elizabeth Warren is challenging Trump's top education official to defend policies that could put student-loan borrowers at risk
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants President Donald Trump's top education chief to answer for her policies that impact millions of student-loan borrowers. Warren is holding a forum on May 14 to examine the Trump administration's education policies and how Republicans' plans for education, including a recent bill that would eliminate affordable monthly student-loan payment plans, will impact borrowers and America's students. A letter exclusively viewed by Business Insider and sent on Wednesday from … Continue Reading
May 06, 2025
Boston Globe: One year after Steward bankruptcy, Warren, Markey demand criminal probe
One year after Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy protection, Massachusetts lawmakers are renewing calls for the Justice Department to take action against the company’s chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre. Despite the closure of two hospitals in Massachusetts, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent to sustain Steward’s other flailing hospitals, and millions of dollars still owed and being clawed back from Massachusetts businesses, de la Torre has yet to be held … Continue Reading
May 02, 2025
Boston Globe: ‘A massive win’: After Stop & Shop lowers Jamaica Plain store prices, youth organizers rejoice
The youth organizers of Hyde Square Task Force are claiming success, once again. Nearly two years after releasing a grassroots study on pricing differences at Boston-area Stop & Shop locations, in which the students found a grocery cart of items at their nearby Jackson Square store cost $34 more than a list of similar products in the more affluent Dedham, the prices at both stores are now roughly equal. During an April shopping trip to both stores, with the same shopping list they first … Continue Reading
April 30, 2025
The Verge: Elizabeth Warren asks Jeff Bezos if he got any favors for his ‘subservience’ to Trump
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wants to know whether Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received any “promises or favors” from President Donald Trump in exchange for his “subservience” after dropping all plans to show customers the cost of tariffs. In a letter sent on Wednesday, Warren questions Bezos about the details of his conversation with Trump and raises concerns “about the potential for tariff-related corruption.” On Tuesday, Trump called Bezos to complain after a Punchbowl News report said … Continue Reading
April 30, 2025
NBC News: Democrats question Customs and Border Protection tactics at points of entry
A green card holder detained on return to the United States and denied access to medications. The handcuffing and body search of an American citizen after she questioned the detention of her German travel partner. The detention for five days of an immigrant mother and her two children who became sick in custody. Recent reports about Customs and Border Protection actions at ports of entry are the focus of a letter signed by more than 40 Democratic members of Congress questioning the agency’s … Continue Reading
April 29, 2025
Boston.com: Warren questions Walgreens sale, warns of potential impact on healthcare access
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers from Sycamore Partners over its proposed $10 billion acquisition of Walgreens, warning the deal could threaten healthcare access for Massachusetts residents. In a letter to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners on Tuesday, Warren listed a series of questions aimed at ensuring there won’t be a repeat of the Steward Health Care debacle and to prevent “pharmacy deserts” in the state. Questions include: Does Sycamore plan to close any … Continue Reading
April 29, 2025
HuffPost: Elizabeth Warren Marks 100 Days Of Trump By Reading Aloud 100 Reports Of His Corruption
Donald Trump is 100 days into his second presidency, and to mark the occasion, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) plans to read into the congressional record what she says are 100 cases of Trump using the presidency to personally benefit himself and his allies. “One hundred days, one hundred acts of corruption,” Warren will say in a Tuesday night speech on the Senate floor. HuffPost obtained a copy of her planned remarks. “When he ran for office, Trump promised repeatedly that he would lower … Continue Reading
April 25, 2025
MarketWatch: Elizabeth Warren presses Bessent for answers after his remarks at private Wall Street event
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, on Friday pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to explain why he gave “inside information” on President Donald Trump’s tariff plans to Wall Street insiders and not the broader public. Speaking at a closed-door, invitation-only event hosted by JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday, Bessent said that the tariff standoff between China and the U.S. would soon de-escalate. When reports of his remarks leaked to the press, it … Continue Reading
April 24, 2025
ABC News: Warren investigates impact on students, teachers from Education Dept. cuts
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Save Our Schools campaign is launching a comprehensive investigation into the Trump administration's effort to close the Department of Education. "I'm opening this investigation to hear directly from students, parents, teachers, and borrowers who are being hurt by Trump's dangerous agenda," Warren wrote in a statement obtained first by ABC News. "Their stories matter -- and they are why I'm in this fight," she said. Warren said since Trump's move to … Continue Reading
April 24, 2025
Democrats urge Social Security Administration to keep field offices open
Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), are urging the Social Security Administration to keep open its field offices and demanding transparency about potential closures in a new letter. In addition to Warren, 65 House members and 40 senators signed the letter to acting Social Security commissioner Leland Dudek on Wednesday, requesting that he commit to keeping open the field offices and tell them if the agency intends to close any. The request came after the … Continue Reading
April 23, 2025
Bloomberg: Apple CEO Cook Urged by Senator Warren to Disclose Trump Tariff Talks
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday questioned Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on his discussions with the Trump administration ahead of the president’s retreat on tariffs covering crucial Apple products built in China. “The circumstances surrounding Apple’s exemptions raise fresh concerns about influence-peddling by huge well-connected corporations, and their ability to gain special favors from President Trump,” Warren wrote in a letter to Cook which was obtained by Bloomberg … Continue Reading
April 23, 2025
Warren Warns of ‘Backdoor Way’ Trump and Musk Want to Gut Social Security
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video on Wednesday warning seniors that Donald Trump and Elon Musk “are taking a chainsaw to your Social Security.” In the video, recorded as a Q&A-style explainer and posted on YouTube, Warren details the carnage that’s unfolding at the Social Security Administration (SSA) — thanks to Musk, the world’s richest man — and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE has led efforts to fire thousands of workers at the SSA and shutter … Continue Reading
April 23, 2025
Senate Democrats seek answers from inspector general on Social Security cuts
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (New York) and four other Senate Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration’s inspector general’s office to investigate the impacts of the U.S. DOGE Service’s dramatic restructuring and sweeping cuts to the government agency. The letter sent to the inspector general’s office Wednesday is part of a broader Democratic effort to defend Social Security from what they describe as a reckless government downsizing campaign spearheaded by Donald … Continue Reading