News Coverage
Business Insider: Elizabeth Warren and top Democrats are asking Social Security to halt plans they say would pave the way for more DOGE firings
Top Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration to scrap plans that they say could make it easier for agency employees to be fired by DOGE. It's the latest push from the party's "Social Security War Room." In a Friday letter exclusively obtained by BI, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Kristen Gillibrand called on new SSA Commissioner Frank Bisgnano to immediately stop any action that would reclassify staff members to a new category labeled Schedule F or Schedule … Continue Reading
May 16, 2025
Elizabeth Warren and top Democrats are asking Social Security to halt plans they say would pave the way for more DOGE firings
Top Democrats are urging the Social Security Administration to scrap plans that they say could make it easier for agency employees to be fired by DOGE. It's the latest push from the party's "Social Security War Room." In a Friday letter exclusively obtained by BI, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Kristen Gillibrand called on new SSA Commissioner Frank Bisgnano to immediately stop any action that would reclassify staff members to a new category labeled Schedule F or Schedule … Continue Reading
May 15, 2025
DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none
After installing anti-fraud checks for benefit claims made over the phone early last month, the Social Security Administration is considering walking back the policy after finding only two cases that had a high probability of being fraudulent. The anti-fraud tool set up last month after weeks of changes to the agency’s telephone policies has slowed retirement claim processing by 25% and led to a "degradation of public service,” according to an internal May document obtained by Nextgov/FCW … Continue Reading
May 15, 2025
Bloomberg Tax: Warren Seeks Details From Donors to IRS Pick’s Dormant Campaign
Senate Finance Committee Democrats say donors to IRS commissioner pick Billy Long’s hibernating campaign fund could have been illegally influencing the former House lawmaker. “This brazen attempt to curry favor with Mr. Long is not only unethical—it may also be illegal,” the lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in one of the letters seen by Bloomberg Tax that were sent Thursday. The letters suggest that the circumstances of the donations raise questions over whether they … Continue Reading
May 15, 2025
Bloomberg: Senators Revive Bill to Break Big Tech’s Grip on Pentagon Deals
A bipartisan pair of senators is reviving a bill to break the grip that tech giants like Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have on the Pentagon’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence contracts. The Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act is set to be reintroduced on Thursday by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Eric Schmitt of Missouri, according to people familiar with the matter. A version of the bill is also … Continue Reading
May 14, 2025
ABC News: Senate Democrats want investigation into whether Trump administration helping Musk make Starlink deals
As President Donald Trump continues his first foreign trip through the Middle East, a group of Senate Democrats are calling for an investigation into whether the Trump administration is clearing hurdles for Starlink, a company led by White House senior adviser Elon Musk, to strike foreign deals. In a letter sent Wednesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics Jamieson Greer, acting Inspector General of the State Department Arne Baker and White … Continue Reading
May 12, 2025
NBC News: Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants
The Trump administration spent at least $21 million transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft between January 20 and April 8, according to figures provided to Congress by the U.S. military. The naval base there currently holds 32 migrants, according to a defense official, a tiny fraction of the 30,000 that President Donald Trump promised. Guantanamo has held a total of just under 500 migrants since Trump announced the effort in January, and it has never held more than 200 … Continue Reading
May 09, 2025
ABC News: Bipartisan pair of senators applaud DOJ investigation into egg producers
A bipartisan pair of senators applauded the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into major egg producers over rising prices and called on the department to look even further into the issue in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater late Thursday evening. "We write to express support for the Department of Justice's reported investigation into anticompetitive practices in the U.S. egg industry," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Jim Banks wrote. "As you are … Continue Reading
May 08, 2025
'Financial Murder': Dems Slam Trump Team Falsely Declaring Thousands Dead in Social Security File
Just a day after Senate Republicans confirmed U.S. President Donald Trump's Social Security Administration commissioner, Frank Bisignano, the chamber's Democrats on Wednesday announced a series of letters about outstanding questions and concerns regarding the federal agency—including one that demands an investigation into what they call attempted "financial murder." Two of the letters unveiled Wednesday were dated April 30. Both were led by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden … Continue Reading
May 08, 2025
The Intercept: Trump Army Appointee Should Sell His Anduril Stock, Sen. Warren Demands
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for President Trump’s pick for Under Secretary of the Army to sell his stock in a defense contractor that experts say would pose a clear conflict of interest. In a federal ethics agreement first reported by The Intercept, Michael Obadal, Trump’s pick for the second most powerful post at the Army, acknowledged held equity in Anduril Industries, where he has worked for two years as an executive. Obadal said that contrary to ethics norms, he will not divest his … Continue Reading
May 08, 2025
The ‘big, beautiful bill’
We’ve got two sets of numbers to dig into today. The first comes from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Warren during a recent Senate vote-a-rama proposed amendments to let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax rates expire for uber-wealthy filers. The amendments began with folks who made $10 million in taxable income in a year, then $100 million, then $500 million, then $1 billion. All those amendments died during the vote-a-rama, but Warren asked the Joint … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
HuffPost: Newly Confirmed Social Security Commissioner Faces Bipartisan Pressure Over DOGE Cuts
Fresh off his confirmation by the Senate on Tuesday to be the new commissioner of Social Security, Frank Bisignano faces a pile of oversight demands from Democrats and Republicans alike. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a group of Democrats on a Wednesday letter to Bisignano noting his predecessor in charge of the Social Security Administration ignored their queries while overseeing dramatic upheavals at the agency. “We are extraordinarily concerned about the future of the SSA under the … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
KPBS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls on Marine Corps to pause contract with Oceanside-based Frontwave Credit Union
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for closer scrutiny of the Marine Corps’ relationship with Oceanside-based Frontwave Credit Union, which handles direct deposits for thousands of Marine recruits every year. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Massachusetts Democrat requested the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) hold off on renewing Frontwave’s contract with the Marine Corps until the department can ensure servicemembers “have adequate protections in place to prevent … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
Newly Confirmed Social Security Commissioner Faces Bipartisan Pressure Over DOGE Cuts
Fresh off his confirmation by the Senate on Tuesday to be the new commissioner of Social Security, Frank Bisignano faces a pile of oversight demands from Democrats and Republicans alike. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a group of Democrats on a Wednesday letter to Bisignano noting his predecessor in charge of the Social Security Administration ignored their queries while overseeing dramatic upheavals at the agency. “We are extraordinarily concerned about the future of the SSA under the … Continue Reading
May 07, 2025
Business Insider: Elizabeth Warren is challenging Trump's top education official to defend policies that could put student-loan borrowers at risk
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants President Donald Trump's top education chief to answer for her policies that impact millions of student-loan borrowers. Warren is holding a forum on May 14 to examine the Trump administration's education policies and how Republicans' plans for education, including a recent bill that would eliminate affordable monthly student-loan payment plans, will impact borrowers and America's students. A letter exclusively viewed by Business Insider and sent on Wednesday from … Continue Reading
May 06, 2025
Boston Globe: One year after Steward bankruptcy, Warren, Markey demand criminal probe
One year after Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy protection, Massachusetts lawmakers are renewing calls for the Justice Department to take action against the company’s chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre. Despite the closure of two hospitals in Massachusetts, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent to sustain Steward’s other flailing hospitals, and millions of dollars still owed and being clawed back from Massachusetts businesses, de la Torre has yet to be held … Continue Reading
May 02, 2025
Boston Globe: ‘A massive win’: After Stop & Shop lowers Jamaica Plain store prices, youth organizers rejoice
The youth organizers of Hyde Square Task Force are claiming success, once again. Nearly two years after releasing a grassroots study on pricing differences at Boston-area Stop & Shop locations, in which the students found a grocery cart of items at their nearby Jackson Square store cost $34 more than a list of similar products in the more affluent Dedham, the prices at both stores are now roughly equal. During an April shopping trip to both stores, with the same shopping list they first … Continue Reading
April 30, 2025
The Verge: Elizabeth Warren asks Jeff Bezos if he got any favors for his ‘subservience’ to Trump
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wants to know whether Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received any “promises or favors” from President Donald Trump in exchange for his “subservience” after dropping all plans to show customers the cost of tariffs. In a letter sent on Wednesday, Warren questions Bezos about the details of his conversation with Trump and raises concerns “about the potential for tariff-related corruption.” On Tuesday, Trump called Bezos to complain after a Punchbowl News report said … Continue Reading
April 30, 2025
NBC News: Democrats question Customs and Border Protection tactics at points of entry
A green card holder detained on return to the United States and denied access to medications. The handcuffing and body search of an American citizen after she questioned the detention of her German travel partner. The detention for five days of an immigrant mother and her two children who became sick in custody. Recent reports about Customs and Border Protection actions at ports of entry are the focus of a letter signed by more than 40 Democratic members of Congress questioning the agency’s … Continue Reading
April 29, 2025
HuffPost: Elizabeth Warren Marks 100 Days Of Trump By Reading Aloud 100 Reports Of His Corruption
Donald Trump is 100 days into his second presidency, and to mark the occasion, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) plans to read into the congressional record what she says are 100 cases of Trump using the presidency to personally benefit himself and his allies. “One hundred days, one hundred acts of corruption,” Warren will say in a Tuesday night speech on the Senate floor. HuffPost obtained a copy of her planned remarks. “When he ran for office, Trump promised repeatedly that he would lower … Continue Reading