News Coverage
Punchbowl News AM: Tax.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Angus King (I-Maine) requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct a review of options for free tax filing since the Trump Administration axed the Direct File program. The senators, in a letter sent Sunday night, asked GAO to address concerns about the costs, user experience and accessibility of the existing Free File system, due to what they called “a history of misconduct” by the program’s private-sector partners. … Continue Reading
May 14, 2026
Senators introduce ban on lawmakers becoming lobbyists
Congress members would be permanently banned from becoming lobbyists after they leave office under a new bipartisan bill, first reported by CNBC. The legislation would not only ban senators and U.S. House members from being registered lobbyists, but would also prevent then from being compensated for trying to influence lawmakers and staff on behalf of companies or groups — closing a loophole that would allow former lawmakers to lobby without being a registered lobbyist. … Read the full … Continue Reading
May 14, 2026
Pentagon response to Stars and Stripes oversight renews fears over outlet’s independence
A letter from the Department of Defense outlining their policies for Stars and Stripes is renewing concerns from Senate Democrats over whether the outlet will remain independent under the Trump administration. An April letter from DOD obtained by The Hill was penned the same day the Pentagon fired the outlet’s ombudsman, the person meant to monitor the outlet’s editorial independence and report concerns to Congress. … Read the full … Continue Reading
May 13, 2026
Lawmakers want to break up some pharmacy companies. Here's why
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push to target drug pricing middlemen by forcing some large pharmacy companies to break up parts of their business. It's legislation that'll look familiar to people in Tennessee - a similar bill passed the state legislature and awaits Gov. Bill Lee's signature. CVS Health has threatened to close all 134 of its pharmacy locations in Tennessee because the legislation takes aim at the pharmacy giant's business model. … Read the full … Continue Reading
May 06, 2026
Morning Defense: Inside Job
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is again pressing DOD officials on conflicts of interest in defense contracting efforts, this time with an eye toward the president’s family. The SASC member on Tuesday submitted a list of 37 questions for the record related to defense contracting following the committee’s hearing with Hegseth last week, with many focused on military contracts with Vulcan Elements, a startup where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. … Read the full story … Continue Reading
May 05, 2026
Senate Democrats call out the Trump administration for hypocrisy on IVF
More than a dozen Democratic senators are demanding the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission abandon plans to roll back protections for workers seeking fertility treatments, according to a letter shared first with MS NOW. In the letter sent to EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas on Monday night, the senators — including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. — say Lucas’ plan could undermine “critical protections for workers … Continue Reading
May 04, 2026
Lawmakers Demand Answers About Growing Number of Unfixed Mistakes on Credit Reports
Four U.S. senators sent letters grilling the nation’s major credit bureaus on Thursday after a ProPublica investigation showed two of the bureaus were fixing fewer consumers’ credit reports. The letters came in response to a ProPublica investigation from March, which found that two of the three major credit bureaus — TransUnion and Experian — had substantially scaled back how often they provided relief to complaints filed through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The decline in relief … Continue Reading
April 29, 2026
Warren Pushes RFK Jr. to Reveal Details on Negotiated Drug Deals
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pushing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to provide Congress with copies of negotiated deals the Trump administration made with drug manufacturers and to make information on generic versions of drugs available on TrumpRx. Warren questioned the Health and Human Services secretary in a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week on prices offered by TrumpRx, where patients are supposed to find discounts on prescription drugs. The Massachusetts senator noted there are … Continue Reading
April 28, 2026
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are calling on CFPB’s student loan ombudsman to protect student loan borrowers.
FIRST IN MORNING ED - WHAT'S GOING ON, OMBUDSMAN: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are pressing Geoffrey Gradler, who became the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Student Loan Ombudsman in January, to commit to protecting student loan borrowers - and said his background seems to suggest he may do the opposite. "At a time when the Trump administration is already stripping borrowers, students, and families of their access to federal support and affordable … Continue Reading
April 27, 2026
Senate Democrats say Pentagon wasn't ready for Iranian retaliation on US troops
A group of Senate Democrats are pressing the Pentagon over what they describe as failures to protect U.S. troops against retaliatory strikes from Iran. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- argue the Pentagon did not take "basic precautions" ahead of expected Iranian retaliation after the U.S. and Israel launched a war against the … Continue Reading
April 23, 2026
Democrats say cuts to social security have caused ‘customer service chaos’ for American seniors
Cuts to the Social Security Administration have caused “customer service chaos” for millions of older Americans and those with disabilities who rely on the agency’s services, according to a new report from a group of Democratic senators. An investigation found that phone wait times were more than 10 times higher than what the agency claimed on its website, if the calls were even answered at all. … Read the full … Continue Reading
April 22, 2026
Warren Slams Move to End IRS Partnership Oversight Regulations
Proposed IRS rules scrapping reporting requirements for complex partnerships will neutralize one of the few remaining tools the agency has to identify abusive partnership transactions, Senate Democrats are warning in a new missive to IRS and Treasury Department officials. The letter, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), pushed back on regulations proposed in March that rescind final rules requiring the reporting of partnerships’ basis-adjustment transactions to the IRS. … Read the full … Continue Reading
April 22, 2026
Warren presses Trump administration for answers on evacuation of Americans amid Iran war
Proposed IRS rules scrapping reporting requirements for complex partnerships will neutralize one of the few remaining tools the agency has to identify abusive partnership transactions, Senate Democrats are warning in a new missive to IRS and Treasury Department officials. The letter, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), pushed back on regulations proposed in March that rescind final rules requiring the reporting of partnerships’ basis-adjustment transactions to the IRS. … Read the full … Continue Reading
April 20, 2026
Democratic Senators Fault Hegseth’s Leadership on Iran
A group of senators has called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to answer questions about his execution of military operations against Iran, saying several of his actions violated federal and international laws and weakened norms for protecting civilians. The 11 senators, all from the Democratic caucus, sent a letter to Mr. Hegseth on Sunday evening. Led by Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the group demanded that Mr. Hegseth explain his actions by … Continue Reading
April 20, 2026
Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?
Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump’s presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel. The companies—ABC; Paramount; Meta; and X, formerly Twitter—entered into the agreements with Trump to settle legal cases he’d brought against them, which experts had dismissed as dubious. After the companies agreed to these shakedowns—sorry, settlements—the fund created … Continue Reading
April 20, 2026
Bipartisan Senators Warn United and American Airlines on Potential Merger
A bipartisan group of senators is raising concerns that a merger between United Airlines could harm travelers. In a letter to United Chief Executive Scott Kirby and American CEO Robert Isom, the senators said a potential deal could result in higher airfares and a reduction in flights in markets that both airlines currently serve. … Read the full … Continue Reading
April 15, 2026
Democrats seek to bar presidents from collecting settlement money from the government
Democratic lawmakers will introduce a bill Wednesday to ban the president, vice president and their families from collecting lawsuit settlement payments from the government. The bill, dubbed the "Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act," comes after President Donald Trump sued the IRS and the Treasury Department for $10 billion over the leak of his tax records, and those of his sons and his company, to news outlets. Trump said he would donate any money he received to charity, but the … Continue Reading
April 09, 2026
Democrats pressure Pentagon over new media restrictions
Earlier this year, the Department of Defense announced that it would be taking greater editorial control over the longrunning military news organization, which has previously operated with editorial latitude. In a memo in March, the Pentagon said the publication must publish content consistent with "good order and discipline," a legalistic military phrase. The new rules limited syndication of external stories and content, and instructed the newspaper's ombudsman to send information intended … Continue Reading
April 08, 2026
Democrats demand DHS, State Dept. watchdogs investigate third-country deportations
A group of Democratic lawmakers called on the internal watchdogs of the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department on Tuesday to investigate the “unlawful and costly” policy of sending people to third countries to which they have no previous connections, according to a letter obtained exclusively by NBC News. “The Trump Administration has, with little or no notice, secretly deported individuals to countries they are not from, have no connection to, and sometimes have never heard … Continue Reading
April 07, 2026
Warren, Ryan Demand FCC Action as Sports Streaming Costs Surge
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D., N.Y.) are urging the federal government to crack down on a sports media ecosystem where prices are soaring while access shrinks for fans, citing ESPN's growing footprint as a prime example of the problem. In a letter that will be sent to the Federal Communications Commission later on Tuesday, the lawmakers are pushing chairman Brendan Carr to more closely scrutinize consolidation and distribution practices that they say have made live … Continue Reading