News Coverage
ABC News: As coronavirus spreads through nation's jails and prisons, lawmakers demand more transparency on toll
Citing the growing toll from a hidden side of the coronavirus pandemic, top Democratic lawmakers are looking to require state and federal prisons to open their books on the number of cases behind bars.Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray, and Cory Booker led a group introducing legislation Thursday that would require the array of agencies that administer the nation’s jails and prisons to collect and report publicly detailed information about the spread of COVID-19 in their … Continue Reading
August 06, 2020
The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is Key to Bringing the Economy Back
America is in the middle of a child care meltdown.Millions of children are out of school and unlikely to return anytime soon. Day care centers are being pushed the brink of collapse. And parents are trying — and often failing — to balance care with working.None of this surprises Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts senator — still under consideration to be Joe Biden’s running mate — made child care a centerpiece of her presidential campaign, proposing one of the most ambitious plans in the … Continue Reading
August 05, 2020
The Washington Post: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants to know whether a data-mining company sold protester data to the police.
The company, Mobilewalla, released a report in June that showed the demographics of protesters based on their location data, as BuzzFeed News first reported. “We have serious concerns that your company’s data could be used for surveillance of Americans engaging in Constitutionally-protected speech.” Warren and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), and House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote to the company's CEO yesterday. They suggested … Continue Reading
August 05, 2020
The Hill: Bill from Warren, Gillibrand and Waters would make Fed fight economic racial inequalities
A bill introduced by three Democratic lawmakers Wednesday would require the Federal Reserve to actively work to narrow racial gaps in wealth, income and employment in the U.S.Called the “Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act,” the bill, spearheaded by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would make reducing racial economic inequality a core part of the central bank’s broader mission of maximizing employment and keeping … Continue Reading
August 04, 2020
Bloomberg: Elizabeth Warren Seeks SEC Insider Trading Probe After Kodak Shares Surge
Senator Elizabeth Warren wants U.S. regulators to examine possible insider trading and disclosure violations involving Eastman Kodak Co. after the former film company’s shares soared when it announced a surprise foray into generic drugs with help from a $765 million government loan.In a letter dated Tuesday, Warren asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to examine trading prior to Kodak’s July 28 announcement. On July 27, volume in the company’s shares surged and the stock rose about … Continue Reading
August 03, 2020
Politico: ‘Shame on you’: Warren slams Esper over handling of Trump’s Pentagon nominee
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren sharply criticized Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday after the administration installed an embattled nominee in a senior Pentagon post amid opposition on Capitol Hill, accusing the Pentagon chief of doing President Donald Trump’s “dirty work.”Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata’s nomination to be undersecretary of defense for policy was upended on Thursday when the Senate Armed Services Committee canceled his confirmation hearing minutes before it was set … Continue Reading
July 31, 2020
Forbes: Democrats Introduce Bill To Get Police Out Of Schools
The deaths of Black people at the hands of police this year ignited an important conversation about police reform in this country. A number of proposals have been introduced to address various facets of policing at the federal, state, and local levels. This week, Democratic lawmakers in Congress added to that list with a bill to get police out of schools.Senators Chris Murphy (CT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA), along with Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA) and Ilhan Omar (MN), introduced the … Continue Reading
July 31, 2020
The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Urge FTC Probe of Mobile Ad Industry’s Tracking of Consumers
A group of members of Congress is asking the Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into the mobile advertising industry’s practice of covertly tracking consumers using digital display ads.The complaint sent to the FTC on Friday cites a little-known practice of using what is called “bidstream” data derived from the ads that appear on websites and in mobile applications to obtain sensitive information about consumers that can include their real-world locations and information about … Continue Reading
July 31, 2020
The New York Times: Democrats Decry Fed Push to Ease Capital Requirements for Big Banks
Two Senate Democrats sharply criticized the Federal Reserve’s effort to get Congress to help it weaken capital requirements for big banks this week, following a report in The New York Times that Republicans were hoping to include such a provision in the next coronavirus relief package.In letters to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell and Vice Chair Randal K. Quarles, Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who sit on a committee that oversees banks and … Continue Reading
July 31, 2020
The Washington Post: Senate Democrats raise concerns about educational redlining in student lending
An emerging practice of using education data to determine creditworthiness is drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where Senate Democrats are questioning whether private student lenders are engaging in educational redlining by raising the price of credit for historically marginalized groups.Lawmakers’ concerns center on lenders factoring in where borrowers attend college or what they study to assess the risk of extending credit and the appropriate interest to charge. Lenders say using a range of … Continue Reading
July 30, 2020
NBC News: Two senators demand answers from Wells Fargo following NBC News reports
Citing a recent investigation by NBC News, two U.S. senators have asked the chief executive of Wells Fargo to answer extensive questions about the bank’s practice of pausing mortgage payments for borrowers without their consent under a federal program designed to help homeowners financially hurt by COVID-19.The senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, both Democrats and members of the Senate Banking Committee, wrote a letter on July 29 requesting information and … Continue Reading
July 30, 2020
Vice: Warren Investigates Report That FedEx, Walmart Punish Workers for Taking Time Off
Senator Elizabeth Warren sent letters to the CEOs of FedEx, Walmart, Conagra, 3M, and Kroger on Tuesday demanding information about their respective attendance policies and whether companies are adequately informing workers of their legal rights to take time off work without punishment.The letters follow a June report by the legal advocacy group A Better Balance that investigated 66 U.S. companies (including those contacted by Senator Warren) that use points-based attendance policies, also … Continue Reading
July 29, 2020
Morning Consult: Sens. Warren, Schatz Call on Fed to Suspend Bank Dividends and Increase Transparency
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) are urging Federal Reserve officials to suspend bank dividends and to provide more transparency on the way the Fed measures the ability of banks to weather a crisis, according to a letter provided exclusively to Morning Consult. Warren and Schatz, both on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a letter sent Tuesday night to Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles that their concerns are “especially … Continue Reading
July 29, 2020
HuffPost: Millions Of Americans Are About To Be Homeless, And It’s Totally Preventable
The federal moratorium on evictions expired last Friday, ending protections for nearly 12 million Americans. This Friday, 25 million people will stop receiving an extra $600 in weekly coronavirus relief in their unemployment benefits.And on Saturday, rent is due for millions of Americans who won’t be able to pay.If Congress doesn’t step in, these people could be evicted come September. And the worst part is that this looming crisis is completely avoidable. All lawmakers need to do is take … Continue Reading
July 29, 2020
The Hill: Warren calls for pledge of no deployment of federal agents on protesters if Trump refuses to leave office
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has asked President Trump’s top Cabinet officials to pledge that they will not deploy federal agents to U.S. cities to quell protests, specifically in the event that Trump loses reelection and refuses to leave the office. “I therefore write to seek your assurances that you will not allow the military or civilian forces under your control to be used by the President to suppress dissent and democracy,” Warren wrote Tuesday in a letter to Defense … Continue Reading
July 29, 2020
The Hill: Warren hammers CFPB director over consumer complaints: 'You should resign'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to resign over her handling of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.The progressive senator claimed the director's response is hurting consumers and giving companies a “get out of jail free card” against consumer protections under law. “Your leadership has been a miserable failure based on your actions in this pandemic. You should resign,” Warren told CFPB director Kathy Kraninger on … Continue Reading
July 28, 2020
Bloomberg Law: Democratic Senators Urge Pandemic Crackdown on Noncompete Pacts
Two Democratic senators want the Federal Trade Commission to take emergency action to limit employers’ enforcement of noncompete agreements during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, saying the public health emergency has “exacerbated” problems with such arrangements.Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also faulted the FTC for not advancing a rulemaking following a January workshop held to consider a possible rule restricting use of noncompete agreements, which hinder a … Continue Reading
July 28, 2020
The Washington Post: Democratic lawmakers probing whether CDC guidelines on reopening schools were influenced by political pressure
U.S. lawmakers are probing whether newly released guidelines on reopening schools issued last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were subject to political pressure from President Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos or other administration officials.Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) have sent a letter to DeVos and CDC director Robert Redfield requesting all correspondence between their agencies and the White House that involves the guidance on … Continue Reading
July 28, 2020
CNN: Warren calls on agency chiefs to commit to not deploying federal forces on Americans should Trump not leave office
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on the heads of the Justice, Defense, Homeland Security and the Interior departments to commit to not using federal agents against protesters in American cities before and after the November election -- specifically in the event that President Donald Trump loses and refuses to leave office."You are each responsible for the command of military or civilian troops and domestic law," the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in a letter Tuesday to Defense Secretary Mark … Continue Reading
July 28, 2020
Reuters: Lawmakers probe White House pressure over schools reopening amid coronavirus
Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. education secretary and head of a top government health agency for their correspondence with the White House to determine if political pressure influenced new federal recommendations on whether schools should reopen in the fall.Public comments from Republican President Donald Trump and members of his administration made clear that reopening schools was a priority and interfered in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) messages to … Continue Reading