News Coverage
Masslive: Student loan forgiveness 2021: Clearing $50,000 in debt can ‘transform an entire generation,’ Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren says
by Michelle Williams
Elizabeth Warren is looking for more than incremental change. She wants generational.The Massachusetts senator is pushing the Biden administration to implement a multi-part response to lowering the student debt burden on the nation’s young adults and seeks free options for future generations.Federal student loan payments and interest are set to resume Oct. 1 following a pause implemented by the Trump administration during the pandemic. The administration’s pause was extended through Sept. 31 … Continue Reading
July 20, 2021
Reuters: Senator Warren questions Lockheed's antitrust solution to buy Aerojet
by Mike Stone
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Federal Trade Commission to take a tougher look at defense industry mergers, questioning a proposal from Lockheed Martin that would allow it to buy the biggest independent maker of rocket motors, Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings.The Democratic senator, who has a keen interest in corporate behavior, asked the FTC to examine the premise and efficacy of internal firewalls like those Lockheed proposes to prevent it from gaining a competitive advantage over … Continue Reading
July 19, 2021
Forbes: Fighting Discrimination Has To Be At CFPB’s Forefront Says Elizabeth Warren And Agency’s Leader
by Ted Knutson
Fighting racial discrimination needs to be at the forefront of everything the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the agency’s current head CFPB Acting Director David Uejio said Monday.Their assertions came at a webinar on the agency’s 10th anniversary hosted by a number of groups that helped lobby it into being including Americans for Financial Reform, U.S. PIRG, the Consumer Federation of America, and the National Consumer Law Center.Discrimination … Continue Reading
July 19, 2021
American Banker: Warren: CFPB should take a closer look at overdraft fees, crypto
by Hannah Lang
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is widely perceived as the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and she used the occasion of the agency's 10th anniversary to call for more robust oversight of cryptocurrency and banks' overdraft practices.“There are so many areas still where the bureau can make a difference,” the Democratic senator said during a virtual event held by several groups, including Americans for Financial Reform, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center … Continue Reading
July 18, 2021
Business Insider: Democrats introduced a bill to rename more than 1,000 forests, lakes, and mountain peaks named with racist slurs or offensive language
by Kelsey Vlamis
Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Friday to rename more than 1,000 places in the US named with offensive language and racist slurs.Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Edward Markey, and Rep. Al Green introduced the bill along with 25 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, all Democrats.Lawmakers first introduced the bill last year with Rep. Deb Haaland, who now serves as the secretary of the interior as the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history....Read the full … Continue Reading
July 14, 2021
New York Times: Texas Democrats meet with supportive senators on voting rights, seeking to sustain momentum.
by Chris Cameron and Reid J. Epstein
Day 2 of the Texas Democrats’ campaign in Washington to pressure Congress to enact federal voting rights protections was much like the first: packed with meetings with supportive senators, cable television appearances and a news conference.This time, it was Democratic state senators who stood before cameras on Wednesday inside a conference room at a Washington hotel — the event was moved indoors from outside the Capitol to avoid the midday heat — to reiterate their pledge to remain outside … Continue Reading
July 14, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Democrats sound alarm on student loan collections as payment restart looms
by Aarthi Swaminathan
Several prominent Democratic lawmakers are asking the Education Department (ED) about student debt collection practices in the face of a potential wave of student loan defaults when the pandemic payment pause expires, Yahoo Finance has learned."With student loan and interest payments scheduled to resume on October 1, 2021, and a wave of loan delinquencies and defaults likely to follow, we are concerned about the Department resuming these payment collections and are seeking information about … Continue Reading
July 14, 2021
ProPublica: Democratic Senators Call for Investigation of Tax Avoidance by the Ultrawealthy
by Jesse Eisinger, Paul Kiel and Jeff Ernsthausen
Two prominent members of the Senate Finance Committee are calling for an investigation into tax avoidance by the ultrawealthy, citing ProPublica’s Secret IRS Files series.In a letter sent today, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote to the committee’s chairman, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), that the “bombshell” and “deeply troubling” report requires an investigation into “how the nation’s wealthiest individuals are using a series of legal tax loopholes to avoid paying their … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
CNBC: Senators Warren, Smith and Markey urge Biden to extend federal student loan pause to March 31, 2022
by Abigail Johnson Hess
Since March 27, 2020, federal student loan interest rates have been set to 0% and payments have been paused, giving borrowers roughly $72 billion in student loan interest relief and helping many make ends meet during the pandemic. But payments are set to resume on Oct. 1, 2021.On June 21, 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 steps the companies are taking to … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
Military.com: Warren Extracts Agreement for Nominees to Refuse Defense Industry Work for 4 Years
by Oriana Pawlyk
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has lifted two nomination holds on prospective Defense Department officials after they agreed to stay out of the defense industry for at least four years following their work at the Pentagon, an aide familiar with the agreement confirmed to Military.com.The Democratic senator from Massachusetts halted the nominations of Frank Kendall, President Joe Biden's pick to be the next Air Force secretary, and Heidi Shyu, put forward to be the Pentagon's research and development … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
The Hill: Warren presses Army Corps of Engineers nominee on Dakota Access Pipeline
by Zack Budryk
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she remains “very concerned” about the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Army Corps of Engineers’ handling of tribal opposition to the project in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.During a hearing for Michael Connor, President Biden’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Warren described herself as “very concerned about the Dakota Access pipeline and what it reflects about the Army Corps of Engineers’ relationship with … Continue Reading
July 12, 2021
Washington Post: The Technology 202: Sen. Warren calls for federal probe of mask sales on Amazon
by Cat Zakrzewski
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for federal regulators to look into Amazon’s handling of mask sales, warning that the company’s algorithms might be misleading consumers.The Democrat from Massachusetts accused the company of having deceptive search results and not providing customers enough information to ensure the masks it sells have received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. She wants the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate the matter, … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
CNBC: Sen. Elizabeth Warren slams Wells Fargo for causing potential credit score hit to its customers
by Hugh Son
Wells Fargo’s decision to pull customers’ credit lines was lambasted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.The bank has been notifying customers that their personal lines of credit would be closed, a move that could potentially damage their credit scores, CNBC reported Thursday.“Not a single customer should see their credit score suffer just because their bank is restructuring after years of scams and incompetence,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, tweeted Thursday evening. “Sending out a warning notice … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
MassLive: ‘We have built a childcare system on the backs of women’; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosts question and answer session in Springfield
by Michelle Williams
Amidst a deluge of rain outside, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke to Western Massachusetts residents from downtown Springfield on Friday.She is our “shining star” through the “doom and gloom out there,” said Springfield Rep. Carlos González, one of several Western Massachusetts elected officials who attended the event.Warren drew a small crowd — likely limited by the day’s weather — whom she spoke to about measures she has supported in recent months as well as what she’s working … Continue Reading
July 09, 2021
Wicked Local: In Lexington, Warren tackles climate crisis, small business recovery, and more
by Ross Cristantiello
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren came before a small crowd next to the Lexington Visitors Center on July 7, cheering engulfed her first words. But what followed was a clear, passionate explanation of her role in Washington and her office's highest priorities. Before her speech, Warren sat for a wide ranging one-on-one interview with Wicked Local. ...Read the full article … Continue Reading
July 08, 2021
Reuters: Sen. Warren warns of cryptocurrency risks, presses SEC on oversight authority
by Andrea Shalal
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
by Aarthi Swaminathan
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
by Nik DeCosta-Klipa
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
by Adriana Belmonte
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
by Joe Gould
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
