Op-eds
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: Republicans Remain Silent as Mulvaney's CFPB Ducks Oversight
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The acting director has undermined the bureau's work defending the public.From the moment Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Republican critics ranted about the CFPB's supposed lack of accountability. Now that one of those critics, Mick Mulvaney, has assumed control of the bureau, the attackers have fallen silent-even as Mr. Mulvaney disregards legal mandates and dodges congressional oversight. This turnabout shows Republicans never really cared about … Continue Reading
March 25, 2018
Boston Globe Op-Ed: A foreign policy in Asia that works at home
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
This week, I will travel to the Asia Pacific region to meet with our allies Japan and South Korea, and to talk with Chinese government officials in Beijing. Our engagement in Asia is essential to U.S. security and economic interests, but today the region faces significant threats.On the Korean Peninsula, a nuclear-armed North Korea threatens the security of the United States, our allies, the region, and the world. I agree with our senior military officials that there is no military-only … Continue Reading
February 26, 2018
Boston Globe: America needs union jobs
by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Steven A. Tolman
When he was gunned down by an assassin's bullet in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis. His last political act was to support sanitation workers as they fought for economic security and dignity on the job. Dr. King understood that the struggle for equality and justice is not limited to civil rights. It also includes economic justice. So, as he led the great struggle for civil rights, he also fought for labor rights. King was in Memphis to support a union because he knew that … Continue Reading
January 25, 2018
USA Today Op-Ed: Elizabeth Warren: Trump team isn't negotiating a good NAFTA deal for workers
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The evidence is in: Donald Trump is the King of Offshoring. Since Trump promised to stop American job outsourcing, company after company has announced its intent to send more jobs overseas. Over 600 Indianapolis Carrier jobs went to Mexico, along with 300 jobs across town at Rexnord, and another 600 at Nabisco. GE. Microsoft. Lowe's. The outsourcing list goes on, and Trump has only made things worse. His administration continues to hand out millions in federal contracting dollars to companies … Continue Reading
January 24, 2018
American Banker Op-Ed: Misguided data freeze keeps CFPB from doing its job
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
During the fallout from the financial crisis, I worked with Congress to design the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stand up for consumers and hold accountable the giant corporations that had crashed the economy. Congress gave the agency a lot of tools to level the playing field - it can write rules to implement laws and sue financial institutions that break them. CFPB examiners inspect financial institutions to make sure their practices are fair and don't cheat customers. And CFPB … Continue Reading
January 21, 2018
TIME Op-Ed: America Can Never Go Back to the Era of Back-Alley Abortions
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
When I was a girl growing up in Oklahoma, women got abortions. But because those procedures were illegal, many of them ended up with back alley butchers. And we all heard the stories: women who bled to death or died from an infection. One of my older brothers and I can argue left-right politics all day and all night, but when it comes to reproductive rights, we see it the same way: A woman should make this very personal decision - and the government should stay out of it. We're in step with … Continue Reading
December 18, 2017
STAT Op-Ed: Congress needs to fund community health centers right away
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
I love community health centers. They do wonderful work and enjoy widespread support. But I'm worried because Republican leaders in Congress have held these centers hostage by halting federal funding while they focus on passing tax cuts for the wealthy. It's past time to step up the fight for community health centers in my state of Massachusetts and across the country. Community health centers are a big part of what's working well in health care today - more coverage at lower cost. They are … Continue Reading
December 17, 2017
South Coast Today Op-Ed: The internet is for all of us ... not just the rich and powerful
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The internet is an important part of our lives. In Massachusetts and across the country, students of all ages go online to complete their homework. Entrepreneurs and small businesses sell goods and do business online. Families come together to watch their favorite movies or shows. But right now our access to a fair and open internet is under attack. On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to roll back key federal protections known as net neutrality rules - rules that … Continue Reading
December 17, 2017
New York Times Op-Ed: Warren and Sanders: Who Is Congress Really Serving?
by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON - Over the past year, Republicans have made their priorities clear. Their effort to repeal Obamacare would have left tens of millions of people without health insurance. Now Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, wants to ram through an enormous tax giveaway to the wealthy before seating Doug Jones, Alabama's newly elected Democratic senator. The Republican agenda on health care and taxes may be popular with wealthy campaign donors, but it is widely disliked by the American … Continue Reading
December 05, 2017
Washington Post Op-Ed: UPS and Pfizer’s dirty little secret
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The blandly named American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is one of the most powerful groups you may have never heard of. ALEC describes itself as the "largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism." In reality, it is an almost entirely corporate-funded front group looking to roll back environmental, consumer and workplace protections in state legislatures across the country. When … Continue Reading
November 30, 2017
USA Today Op-Ed: Don't let Trump & Wall Street gut consumer protection bureau
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Before the 2008 financial crisis, people were tricked, squeezed, misled and outright cheated by a lot of lenders. Wall Street banks handed out mortgages they knew their customers couldn't repay. Credit card companies hid dangerous traps deep in the fine print of their contracts. Student loan servicers caught students and graduates in tangles of debt with high interest rates. And after sucking billions in profits out of the pockets of hardworking people, the financial giants crashed the … Continue Reading
November 17, 2017
American Prospect Op-Ed: Don't Let Wall Street Run Amok
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Ten years ago, just before the onset of the financial crisis, I wrote an article for an academic journal proposing a new agency that would regulate financial products and protect American consumers. I set my expectations low: This idea would go nowhere. But after the financial system imploded, there was sudden interest in my idea from that dusty academic journal. I started to talk to groups about building a consumer agency, and one after another came on board: unions, AARP, Consumers Union. … Continue Reading
November 08, 2017
Boston Herald Op-Ed: A seat of honor for POW/MIAs
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Every year on Nov. 11, America honors the men and women who have served our country in uniform. There are parades and special ceremonies, roundtable breakfasts and religious services. As the sister of three veterans, it has always been a time to reflect on the sacrifices of those who have served, and the families that love them. I remember how my mother watched for the mail. She looked forward to hearing from my brother David, when he was posted at Fort Sam Houston training as an emergency … Continue Reading
November 03, 2017
Washington Post Op-Ed: The Republican tax plan puts rich donors ahead of working families
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The Republican leadership has outsourced its economic agenda to a handful of billionaires and corporate donors. From attempting to kick millions off of health insurance to rolling back rules protecting worker health and safety, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) have relentlessly pursued their donors' interests at the expense of working families. The Republican tax plan unveiled Thursday is the latest example. American families are already … Continue Reading
November 01, 2017
Politico Op-Ed: The Supreme Court Has An Ethics Problem
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
A few days before the Supreme Court returned from its summer break, Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court's newest member, attended a luncheon at the Trump International Hotel, where he was to give the keynote address. The location of the speech attracted the attention of dozens of protesters and a number of ethics watchdogs, who noted the apparent conflict of interest posed by Justice Gorsuch-a Trump nominee-keynoting an event at a hotel whose revenue goes in part to President Trump. That … Continue Reading
October 26, 2017
Bloomberg View Op-Ed: Don't Let Big Banks Escape the Fed's Scrutiny
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Community banks and credit unions face a lot of challenges today, and they make a good case for lightening some unnecessary regulatory burdens. But instead of focusing on these smaller institutions, Congress is considering easing up oversight for some of the biggest banks in the country. This would increase the risk of another financial crisis. In the aftermath of the crisis, Congress determined that banks with more than $50 billion in assets -- roughly the 40 biggest in the country -- posed … Continue Reading
October 16, 2017
Boston Globe Op-Ed: Even after Equifax and Wells Fargo, GOP sides with big financial institutions
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The Equifax data breach and the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal have given America a peek into business practices at some of America's biggest financial institutions. In both companies, a related practice popped to the surface: forced arbitration clauses. These little clauses, often buried in a fog of fine print, are a way for the companies to slither out of accountability when they cheat their customers. And Senate Republicans are on the verge of ramming through a resolution that will … Continue Reading
October 16, 2017
Glamour Op-Ed: Senator Elizabeth Warren: Attacks on Birth Control Access Are Attacks on Women's Economic Freedom
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
If anyone told a young woman today that she was expected to quit school after eighth grade or leave her job once she got married, most Americans would be outraged. Not fair! Women should have the same range of economic choices as men. Through the years, one door after another has opened, as women have become astronauts and neurosurgeons, run Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations, and started their own businesses. Sure, there's still a lot of ground to make up, but the country has … Continue Reading
October 01, 2017
CNN Op-Ed: Canada's wake-up call to the US on NAFTA
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
President Donald Trump, a loud and persistent critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), recently began renegotiating this trade deal with Canada and Mexico. The President promised to secure a fair deal for American workers. That sounds great. After all, we don't think Americans should be forced to compete with poorly paid workers from Mexico or elsewhere, and we can demand that companies that want to trade with us lift wages, benefits, and health and safety standards for their … Continue Reading
September 27, 2017
Fortune Op-Ed: You Should Have Control Over Your Data, Not Sloppy Companies Like Equifax
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
On Sept. 7, Equifax-one of America's largest credit reporting agencies-disclosed that hackers had broken into its system and stolen highly personal information about more than 140 million Americans. Since then, I've heard from working families in Massachusetts and across the country. The Equifax hack is a nightmare. At best, it's a giant hassle-time on hold with the credit reporting agencies, fees for this service and that service, confusion about what's been stolen and what to do about it. … Continue Reading
