News Coverage
The Guardian: Doge employees hold stock in firms set to benefit from cuts, Democrats allege
Employees of Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) own lucrative stock in companies that stand to directly benefit from their work gutting federal agencies, Democratic senators have alleged. The potential ethics violations merit an investigation by the justice department and other oversight bodies, urges a letter co-authored by senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Jack Reed of Rhode Island and obtained by the Guardian. “We write regarding new … Continue Reading
May 29, 2025
Boston Globe: Led by Senator Warren, Mass. lawmakers demand answers about Trump’s ongoing attack on international students
Senator Elizabeth Warren led a delegation of Massachusetts lawmakers in demanding answers from the Trump administration about its revocation of international students’ visas, what they called the latest in a string of hostile actions aimed at students from abroad, according to a copy of a letter sent Wednesday. “This trend has been particularly damaging for Massachusetts, which is home to one of largest concentrations of higher education institutions and hosts over 80,000 international … Continue Reading
May 28, 2025
Reuters: Democrat Warren raises concern that US tariff deals will favor Big Tech over workers
Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday expressed concern the Trump administration's tariff negotiations would favor big technology firms at the expense of consumers and workers. In a letter, to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Warren said Big Tech has long sought to use trade negotiations to "undermine pro-consumer, pro-competition policies." She asked for details on the officials' interactions … Continue Reading
May 28, 2025
Reuters: US senator calls for AI competition in Pentagon contracting
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged the U.S. Department of Defense to ensure competitive AI contracting, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday, as tech billionaire Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok gains ground in the federal government. Warren's letter comes on the heels of Reuters reporting last week that Musk's DOGE team is expanding the use of Grok to analyze data, potentially violating conflict-of-interest laws and putting at risk sensitive information … Continue Reading
May 23, 2025
HuffPost: Elizabeth Warren Probes Staffing Shortage And Backlog At Social Security
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants details about the Social Security Administration’s pending retirement claims and how many staff are left to sort through the growing backlog. In a letter to Social Security commissioner Frank Bisignano, Warren noted a recent report that claims processing has slowed 25% as a result of misguided efforts by President Donald Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” to root out fraud. “Instead of acknowledging the need for additional staffing, SSA … Continue Reading
May 23, 2025
Military Times: Warren presses Hegseth about fluoridation’s impact on readiness
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has sent a letter pressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for answers about how potentially ending fluoride use in drinking water, as recently championed by the Trump administration's health care chief, could undermine military readiness. Warren's Thursday letter comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride be added to drinking water in … Continue Reading
May 23, 2025
Elizabeth Warren Probes Staffing Shortage And Backlog At Social Security
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants details about the Social Security Administration’s pending retirement claims and how many staff are left to sort through the growing backlog. In a letter to Social Security commissioner Frank Bisignano, Warren noted a recent report that claims processing has slowed 25% as a result of misguided efforts by President Donald Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” to root out fraud. “Instead of acknowledging the need for additional staffing, SSA … Continue Reading
May 22, 2025
Native News Online: Remove the Stain Act of 2025 Reintroduced: Confronting a Shameful Chapter in American History
The Remove the Stain Act of 2025 will be reintroduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Representative Jill Tokuda (D-HI), on Thursday, according to Sen. Warren’s Senate office. The Remove the Stain Act is a historic effort to address a long-standing injustice stemming from one of the darkest moments in U.S. military history—the Wounded Knee Massacre. This legislation aims to rescind twenty Medals of Honor awarded to U.S. soldiers for their role in the … Continue Reading
May 22, 2025
Boston Globe: Massachusetts leads the nation in lost NSF research funding
Massachusetts has lost more National Science Foundation money for science, math, and engineering research than any other state in the country, a Globe analysis of terminated grants found. Since the start of the Trump administration, the NSF cut 251 grants to Massachusetts institutions worth $249 million, federal data showed. That accounts for a lion’s share of the $265.4 million in NSF grants lost at 40 institutions across New England. The cuts could mean lost jobs and hundreds of research … Continue Reading
May 20, 2025
Wall Street Journal: Senators Question Shari Redstone Over Efforts to Reach CBS Settlement With Trump
A trio of senators is seeking information about Paramount Global’s efforts to settle a lawsuit by President Trump against the company’s CBS News, probing whether the company risks violating a federal bribery statute. In a letter to Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said they are concerned that the media company “may be engaging in improper conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for … Continue Reading
May 19, 2025
Politico Massachusetts Playbook: The human cost of Medicaid cuts
DEAR CONGRESS - Eight years ago, then 10-year-old Liam Barry of Worthington, Mass., wrote a letter to Donald Trump, pleading with the president not to repeal the Affordable Care Act. "Thanks to the ACA, my mother has been able to get the care and medication she needs. If you repeal the ACA, my mother will not be able to get the care she needs," Barry wrote at the time. "I know there are millions of kids in the same situation as me, so please think of them when you read this." The story … Continue Reading
May 19, 2025
Reuters: US senator questions Brazilian meatpacker JBS over Trump inaugural fund donations
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA to explain its $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and whether the money courted the Trump administration's recent approval of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. JBS, the world's largest meat company, received approval in April from the Securities and Exchange Commission to dual-list its shares in Brazil and New York after years of trying. The company's donation to President Donald Trump's … Continue Reading
May 19, 2025
USA TODAY: 'Get it done': Democrats want Trump to eliminate Wall Street tax break he's long targeted
A group of Democratic senators are calling on President Donald Trump to push congressional Republicans to end a Wall Street tax break he has long had in his sights. In a letter sent to Trump on May 18 and first obtained by USA TODAY, ten Democratic senators highlighted the president's longstanding interest in eliminating what's known as the "carried interest loophole." It's a tax break that allows venture capital, private equity and hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate for certain … Continue Reading
May 19, 2025
Politico: Weekly Tax: A hearing a long time coming
FIREWORKS INCOMING? The fate of the Republicans' one big, beautiful bill isn't the only big tax story in town this week. Former Rep. Billy Long, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the IRS, is scheduled to finally have a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. His hearing will come as Trump administration hits the four-month mark - a period of true upheaval for the IRS, which has had four interim leaders in that spell, saw thousands of employees hit the door … Continue Reading
May 16, 2025
The Verge: The US Army is getting in on right-to-repair
The US Army is done relying on contractors to repair its equipment. Earlier this month, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll committed to including right-to-repair provisions in all existing and future contracts with manufacturers, a change Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told The Verge will "put an end to our dependence on giant defense contractors who charge billions of dollars and take months to repair critical equipment." For now, only the Army has committed to securing right-to-repair provisions … Continue Reading
May 16, 2025
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