News Coverage
Business Insider: Interview: Elizabeth Warren puts student-loan servicers on notice. The 'days are over' when they could do 'a terrible job.'
by Ayelet Sheffey
Over the span of two weeks this July, two student-loan companies shut down their services. Good, said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is holding a Senate hearing on Tuesday to discuss how to best protect borrowers as they transition to new servicers. She told Insider that other companies should consider it a warning."The world has changed for student-loan-debt servicers," Warren said. "They can't sign a contract, do a lousy job, cost borrowers tons of money, and still get their … Continue Reading
July 27, 2021
Politico: Warren urges Yellen to crack down on cryptocurrency
by Kellie Mejdrich
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to rally federal agencies to develop a "coordinated and cohesive regulatory strategy" on cryptocurrencies, which the Massachusetts Democrat says pose growing risks to the financial system.Warren told Yellen in a letter released Tuesday that she should tap the Financial Stability Oversight Council — a panel of top regulators that the Treasury secretary chairs — to "act with urgency."Warren said "cryptocurrencies currently touch … Continue Reading
July 27, 2021
Forbes: ‘Tick Tock, Mr. President.’ Warren, Schumer Urge Biden To Cancel Student Loan Debt As Payment Moratorium Ends
by Adam Minsky
Leading congressional Democrats held a press conference this afternoon, urging President Biden to cancel student loan debt.“Tick tock, tick tock,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), noting that 30 million Americans will have student loan bills due by October as the current moratorium on federal student loan payments comes to an end. “The payment pause is running out, and the size of these payments for many borrowers is the size of their rent or car payment,” which will lead to “hard … Continue Reading
July 27, 2021
Huffington Post: Sen. Elizabeth Warren Rips Jeff Bezos For Space Trip While Stiffing IRS
by Mary Papenfuss
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) flamed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for his high-flying trip to space last week after skipping out on his taxes and letting struggling Americans pick up the tab for funding the nation.“The richest guy on Earth can launch himself into space while over half the country lives paycheck to paycheck, nearly 43 million are saddled with student debt, and child care costs force millions out of work. He can afford to pitch in so everyone else gets a chance.”ProPublica … Continue Reading
July 23, 2021
Wall Street Journal: Elizabeth Warren Targets Sacklers’ Legal Protection in Purdue Bankruptcy
by Jonathan Randles
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is bolstering efforts by Democratic lawmakers to stop the owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP from using the company’s bankruptcy to shield themselves from lawsuits blaming them for the opioid crisis.The Massachusetts Democrat is sponsoring a Senate bill set to be introduced next week that calls for prohibiting owners of bankrupt businesses or other individuals who haven’t filed personal bankruptcy from getting so-called nonconsensual third-party releases … Continue Reading
July 22, 2021
Bloomberg: Warren, Brown Criticize Powell’s Approach on Bank Regulation
by Mackenzie Hawkins and Laura Litvan
Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown and Senator Elizabeth Warren kept up criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over his stance on bank regulation as the Biden administration is turning to the question of whether the central bank chief should be reappointed.“The chairman of the Federal Reserve has two obligations. One, to lead us in monetary policy, and the second, in regulating the largest financial institutions,” Warren told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked whether President … Continue Reading
July 22, 2021
The Hill: Warren: Canceling $50K in student debt could 'transform an entire generation'
by Mychael Schnell
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is reigniting her push for canceling $50,000 in student debt per borrower, arguing the move could “transform an entire generation.”“It would help nearly everyone who tried to go to college and it didn’t work out - the 40% of student loan borrowers who do not have a college diploma and are truly struggling hard with student loan debt and would help a huge number of public school teachers and firefighters and people who want a chance to get out there and start … Continue Reading
July 21, 2021
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
