News Coverage
Democratic Senators Prepare to ‘Fundamentally Reform’ Capitalism
by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni
A statement of intentJust days before Election Day, four Democratic senators — Tammy Baldwin, Tom Carper, Mark Warner and Elizabeth Warren — are banding together to “fundamentally reform” capitalism. DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch got a first look at their working group, which will be announced today. Above all, it suggests growing Democratic unity around pushing corporate America to focus less on shareholders and short-term profits. And it signals an early priority for lawmakers if their party … Continue Reading
October 30, 2020
Senate Democrats call on power, water, telecom giants to halt all utility shutoffs
by Tony Romm
Top Senate Democrats are calling on electric, gas, water and telecommunications giants to voluntarily halt all utility shutoffs for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears that millions of Americans are falling behind on their bills and have no easy way to catch up.The request - sent in a letter Friday to 21 of the largest utility companies - illustrates the country’s lingering economic needs even as Washington fails to coalesce around a new coronavirus relief package, which … Continue Reading
October 29, 2020
Elizabeth Warren’s office compiled a report on the Trump administration’s Hatch Act violations. They counted more than 50.
by Nik DeCosta-Klipa
Sen. Elizabeth Warren often calls President Donald Trump’s administration the “most corrupt” in the country’s history — and not just because of the headline-grabbing stuff.In a report Thursday shared exclusively with Boston.com, the Massachusetts senator’s office put together a list of all the confirmed and alleged violations of the Hatch Act by Trump administration officials, finding a pattern of disregard for the law with “almost no consequences.”...Read the full article on Boston.com … Continue Reading
October 29, 2020
Senators ask HHS, CDC about 'highly alarming' excess Covid-19 deaths
by Maggie Fox
(CNN) Three Democratic US senators have asked the US Health and Human Services Secretary and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director to explain what they're doing to investigate a "highly alarming" excess of deaths in the United States, above and beyond the more than 200,000 fatalities directly attributed to Covid-19."Newly released CDC data reveal that 'an estimated 299,028 excess deaths occurred from late January through October 3, 2020, with 198,081 (66%) excess deaths … Continue Reading
October 28, 2020
Warren Rips USPS Board Members for 'Acting as Accomplices' to DeJoy as He Sabotages Mail Delivery—and the Election
by Jake Johnson
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday blasted members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors for "acting as accomplices" to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy while he sabotages the mail—and, as a result, the election—after the panel rejected her request for financial disclosure filings and refused to commit to reversing DeJoy's destructive policy changes."The USPS Board of Governors has refused to release information about their own financial ties and has doubled down on their support of … Continue Reading
October 27, 2020
Senate Democrats Press Trump Administration to Collect, Disseminate School Reopening Data
by Lauren Camera
SENATE DEMOCRATS URGED the Trump administration this week to create a centralized database to track school-related coronavirus cases and school reopening plans in order to provide more reliable information for school leaders trying to reopen for in-person learning. "As schools have begun the new academic year operating in-person, remotely, or with a hybrid approach, there has been wide variation in both the reporting and tracking of COVID-19 cases at schools that provide in-person learning," … Continue Reading
October 22, 2020
Progressive lawmakers call on congressional leaders to prepare for next pandemic
by Tucker Higgins
More than 100 Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives, largely progressives, are calling on congressional leaders to take steps to prepare the United States for the next pandemic and mitigate racial disparities in U.S. health care.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., spearheaded a letter sent to the top Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate on Thursday calling on them to “lay the groundwork to prevent and mitigate future pandemics.”...Read the … Continue Reading
October 21, 2020
Senate Bill Would Outlaw Bank Discrimination for the First Time
by Emily Flitter
Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation that would make it illegal for banks and other financial firms to discriminate against their customers because of their race, religion, sexual orientation and other characteristics — an effort meant to close a loophole in the Civil Rights Act highlighted in a New York Times report in June.The Fair Access to Financial Services Act, introduced on Wednesday by members of the Senate Banking Committee, would explicitly outlaw discrimination against … Continue Reading
October 21, 2020
Elizabeth Warren blasts the EPA for neglecting environmental justice
by Zoya Teirstein
Climate change and environmental degradation don’t affect all Americans equally. Extreme heat, flooding, drought, and other consequences of our warming planet tend to hit low-income and nonwhite communities hardest. And pollution from highways and industry activity has long affected those communities most, too. These patterns are known as environmental injustice.In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama established a tool called EJSCREEN to literally map the factors … Continue Reading
October 16, 2020
Lawmakers demand Amazon answer for deception on worker injuries
by Will Evans
A trio of Democratic Congress members from Massachusetts is demanding that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos answer questions about the company’s deception around worker injuries and its failure to address high injury rates at its fulfillment centers. “We are gravely concerned that, as evidence mounts of unsafe working conditions for Amazon warehouse workers, Amazon’s response continues to be to roll out PR campaigns and misrepresent workers’ injury risk to Congress and the public rather than implement … Continue Reading
October 15, 2020
Elizabeth Warren demands investigation into elite investors accessing Trump briefings
by Matt Egan
New York (CNN Business) - Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling on US financial regulators to investigate whether insider trading laws were violated when elite investors reportedly got wind of private concerns voiced by Trump officials about the pandemic in late February."Numerous investors may have used this early and insider information about the looming, tragic economic and public health consequences of the pandemic to extract profits for themselves," Warren wrote in the letter obtained first … Continue Reading
October 14, 2020
Elizabeth Warren slams Disney for laying off thousands of workers after awarding fat executive pay packages
by Matt Egan
New York (CNN Business) - Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed Disney over decisions she says prioritized shareholders and CEO pay packages over the well-being of its workers.Disney, which is laying off 28,000 employees in the United States, made "short-sighted" business decisions that depleted the storied company's capital cushion, Warren said in a letter released Wednesday.In particular, Warren called out Disney for "showering its top executives with over-the-top compensation packages and … Continue Reading
October 09, 2020
Senate Dems ask government watchdog to investigate 'political pressure' on FDA, CDC
by Lucien Bruggeman
Senate Democrats are calling on an internal government watchdog agency to investigate allegations that the White House has sought to undermine coronavirus messaging from government experts that conflicts with President Donald Trump's political priorities.In their letter, dated Thursday and obtained first by ABC News, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., slammed the Trump administration for "repeatedly applying political pressure and imposing orders … Continue Reading
October 07, 2020
Senator Warren asks big U.S. banks for details on pandemic performance
by Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is asking large U.S. banks to disclose how they performed under a recent Federal Reserve exam of their finances during the coronavirus pandemic.In a letter sent to 14 large firms Wednesday, Warren asked each to provide its results from a confidential Fed test, arguing the central bank’s “limited transparency” on whether banks could weather a severe economic downturn is insufficient.“The safety and soundness of the banking sector cannot be … Continue Reading
October 06, 2020
Elizabeth Warren, Katherine Clark urge DEA in letter to finalize ‘partial fill’ regulation to combat opioid epidemic
by Dialynn Dwyer
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Katherine Clark are calling out the Drug Enforcement Administration for failing to finalize a regulation they say is “crucial” in combating the opioid epidemic.In a letter released Tuesday, signed by the Massachusetts Democrats along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, the lawmakers urged the DEA to implement the “partial fill” regulation. The measure would help reduce the number of … Continue Reading
October 05, 2020
Warren, Durbin slam government’s ‘failing’ efforts to contain coronavirus in federal prisons
by Kim Bellware
In a pair of letters to U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr and Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, two Democratic senators suggest that the government’s response to coronavirus outbreaks in federal facilities is failing, and they question the BOP’s reliance on solitary confinement to isolate sick prisoners rather than granting compassionate release.Federal prisoners, corrections staff, government inspectors and civil rights advocates have complained for months that the … Continue Reading
October 05, 2020
Elizabeth Warren: Executives Of Predatory Colleges Should Be Held Personally Liable For Misconduct
by Adam S. Minsky, Esq.
Senator Elizabeth Warren called on Monday for the owners and executives of predatory schools and colleges to be held personally liable for school misconduct.“Millions of Americans are being crushed by over $1.5 trillion dollars in outstanding federal student loan debt, with Black and Brown communities disproportionally impacted, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis hits the same communities the hardest,” said Senator Warren in a statement. “Much of that debt came from … Continue Reading
October 02, 2020
Sen. Elizabeth Warren chides Trump for ‘undermining’ work of scientists
by Travis Andersen
Like many members of Congress who woke up to the stunning news Friday that President Trump had tested positive for coronavirus, Senator Elizabeth Warren wished her ideological opposite a speedy recovery.But the Cambridge Democrat, a liberal firebrand and frequent Trump critic who sought her party’s 2020 presidential nomination, also laid into what she said was the president’s deeply irresponsible behavior throughout the pandemic.“My thoughts are with the President, First Lady, White House … Continue Reading
September 30, 2020
A group of top CEOs pledged to change the way they do business for the common good. Elizabeth Warren says they haven’t.
by Nik DeCosta-Klipa
Remember when a group of nearly 200 high-profile CEOs announced last year they were redefining the purposes of their businesses to prioritize not just short-term stockholders’ interests but the greater social good?Sen. Elizabeth Warren does.But the Massachusetts senator says that — more than 13 months later — the group, known as the Business Roundtable, hasn’t been living up to those ideals.Read the full article on the Boston.com … Continue Reading
September 29, 2020
Warren won't meet with Barrett, calling Trump's nomination an 'illegitimate power grab'
by Justine Coleman
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she will not meet with President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, calling the nomination an “illegitimate power grab.”The former 2020 presidential candidate took to Twitter to announce she will not meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Senate Republicans prepare to confirm Trump’s nominee before the Nov. 3 election. Warren slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in particular, saying she will “not lend legitimacy” to his “efforts to … Continue Reading
