Press Releases
Senators Demand Answers About Icahn's White House Role
Washington, D.C. - In a letter sent to White House Counsel Don McGahn today, a group of Senators demand to know what role oil refining executive Carl Icahn is playing in President Donald Trump's White House, how he affected the selection of Scott Pruitt to be Trump's nominee for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, and to what extent Icahn controls the destiny of an EPA regulation that Icahn claims will cost his business hundreds of millions of dollars. Senators Sheldon … Continue Reading
February 13, 2017
Warren Releases Questions for Secretary of Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder Regarding Conflicts of Interest, his Public Opposition to Vital Protections for Workers, CKE’s Labor Violations, and More
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent a 28-page letter to Secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder, asking for information about Mr. Puzder's conflicts of interest and his plans for addressing conflicts of interest with the numerous companies of President Trump's that are regulated by the Department of Labor (DOL), his opposition to minimum wage laws and other vital protections for workers and families, and his company's prolific history of labor and … Continue Reading
February 13, 2017
Senators Demand Answers About Icahn's White House Role
Washington, D.C. - In a letter sent to White House Counsel Don McGahn today, a group of Senators demand to know what role oil refining executive Carl Icahn is playing in President Donald Trump's White House, how he affected the selection of Scott Pruitt to be Trump's nominee for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, and to what extent Icahn controls the destiny of an EPA regulation that Icahn claims will cost his business hundreds of millions of dollars. Senators Sheldon … Continue Reading
February 10, 2017
Warren, Udall, Schatz, Heinrich and Harris Raise Concerns About Diversion of Funds from Key Homeland Security Priorities to Pay for Trump Border Wall
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) wrote today to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to raise concerns about the potential diversion of funds from key agency priorities to pay for President Trump's proposed border wall. The president's recent executive order requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate … Continue Reading
February 10, 2017
Warren, Baldwin Seek Information On Goldman Sachs' Role In and Influence over Trump Administration Economic Policies
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) today sent a letter to Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, calling on him to disclose the extent to which Goldman employees were involved in the drafting of two recent Executive Orders that will directly benefit the company. In addition, the Senators asked Mr. Blankfein to fully disclose any lobbying related to these executive orders and detail the profits Goldman Sachs expects to gain … Continue Reading
February 08, 2017
Letter from Coretta Scott King About Jeff Sessions
On February 7, 2017, Senator Warren attempted to read the text of a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King about the nomination of Jeff Sessions for a federal judgeship. The text of the letter is available below, or to download as a PDF here. -- The Honorable Strom Thurmond, ChairmanCommittee on the JudiciaryUnited States SenateDirksen Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510 Re: Nomination of Jefferson B. SessionsU.S. Judge, southern/District of Alabama Hearing, March 13, 1986 Dear Senator … Continue Reading
February 07, 2017
Schumer, Whitehouse, Warren Weigh in on Lawsuit Seeking Thousands of Emails Between Scott Pruitt and Fossil Fuel Industry
"Mr. Pruitt shouldn't be rewarded for a cover-up-he should be held responsible for it." "Congress and the public deserve to know what Mr. Pruitt is hiding. Until those emails are released, the Senate should not vote on Mr. Pruitt's nomination." Washington, DC - Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) weighed in on a lawsuit filed today by the Oklahoma law firm Hall Estill and the Oklahoma American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Center … Continue Reading
February 07, 2017
Warren Letter Highlights Financial Firms' Support For Fiduciary Rule, Urges Labor Department Not to Delay or Eliminate Protections for Retirees
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Edward Hugler following President Trump's directive that the Labor Department re-examine the new fiduciary rule for financial advisers, which will protect consumers from predatory conflicts of interest that cost hardworking Americans $17 billion every year. The letter summarizes comments received by Senator Warren from twenty-one leading financial firms affirming widespread … Continue Reading
February 06, 2017
Senate Dems to SEC: Additional Evidence Requires Immediate Investigation Into Congressman Price’s Stock Trading Activities Before Nomination Advances
In a new letter to the SEC, Senate HELP Democrats say "additional evidence" necessitates an investigation and heightens "concerns about Rep. Price's financial dealings and his possible violations of the STOCK Act and insider trading laws" Letter follows several requests made by Democrats and government watchdog organizations for the Office of Congressional Ethics and the SEC to investigate potential violations ICYMI- Last week, Finance Committee Republicans broke longstanding Committee rules … Continue Reading
February 03, 2017
Senators to Trump: Don't Pull the Rug Out from Under States Fighting Opioid Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today joined Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and 19 additional Senate colleagues in warning President Donald Trump that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no replacement would pull the rug out from under local communities working to combat the opioid epidemic and could endanger millions of Americans just as they are getting treatment. Repeal threatens to cut $5.5 billion from … Continue Reading
February 03, 2017
Senator Elizabeth Warren's Statement on President Trump's Executive Orders to Roll Back Dodd-Frank, DOL Conflict-of-Interest Rule
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren released the following statement today on President Trump's executive orders to roll back financial reforms and to delay the Department of Labor's Conflict of Interest rule for financial advisers: "Donald Trump talked a big game about Wall Street during his campaign - but as President, we're finding out whose side he's really on. Today, after literally standing alongside big bank and hedge fund CEOs, he announced two new orders - one that … Continue Reading
February 03, 2017
Warren, Baldwin Call on NEC Director Cohn to Pay Full Taxes on Windfall Payments, Recuse Himself from All Decisions Affecting Goldman Sachs
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) today sent a letter calling on incoming National Economic Council (NEC) Director - and former Goldman Sachs executive - Gary Cohn to recuse himself from any decisions related to Goldman Sachs in light of the $284 million windfall he received upon entering President Trump's Administration. In addition, the senators called on Cohn to immediately pay in full the taxes that would have been due had he not … Continue Reading
February 03, 2017
Sen. Warren Releases Report on Financial Adviser Conflict-of-Interest Rule Threatened by Trump Administration
A PDF copy of the report is available here Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren today released a report detailing the kinds of prizes and kickbacks currently offered to retirement advisers for selling certain financial products, regardless of whether those products are in the best interest of consumers. A new Department of Labor (DOL) rule to prevent these conflicts of interest is scheduled to take effect in April 2017; however, President Donald Trump plans to issue a memorandum … Continue Reading
February 02, 2017
Senator Warren Condemns Republican Effort to Repeal SEC Extraction Rule, Hand Massive Giveaway to ExxonMobil
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) delivered remarks on the floor of the Senate this evening voicing her strong opposition to repealing the Securities and Exchange Commission's extraction rule. Repeal of the rule, which passed the House of Representatives today, would hand a massive giveaway to ExxonMobil. The full text of the Senator's remarks as prepared for delivery are as follows: For the first time in more than a decade, the Republican Party controls the … Continue Reading
February 02, 2017
Senators Warren and Grassley Respond to Announcement of Inclusion of Medical Device UDI on Health Insurance Claims Forms
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today responded to yesterday's announcement by the Accredited Standards Committee X12 (X12) that a draft update to health insurance claims forms includes medical devices' unique device identifier (UDI). The Senators wrote to X12 chair Gary Beatty in August to urge this step and have pressed for inclusion of device information on claims forms since 2014. "Adding device identifier information to … Continue Reading
February 01, 2017
Senator Warren's Remarks on the Supreme Court
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren today delivered remarks on the floor of the Senate on President Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. A video of her remarks is here. Her full remarks as prepared for delivery are as follows: Mr. President, we're in the second week of the Trump Presidency, and it's pretty clear that something is happening in our country. All across the nation, Americans in quiet towns and boisterous cities are taking to the streets to … Continue Reading
February 01, 2017
Senators Call for Answers About Alleged Wells Fargo Fraud Cover-up
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Six Democratic Banking Committee members led by Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today wrote to Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan demanding answers after revelations that the bank reportedly tried to cover its tracks by shredding and forging documents to conceal the widespread customer fraud. "These latest allegations by Wells Fargo employees raise yet another red flag indicating that top management and the board of directors of Wells Fargo knew or should have known about the extensive … Continue Reading
February 01, 2017
Senators Markey and Warren Call on FERC to Rescind Authorization for Spectra’s Atlantic Bridge Pipeline
Washington, DC - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) calling on it to immediately rescind the order authorizing Spectra's Atlantic Bridge pipeline project in light of the announcement from Commissioner Norman Bay that he will resign from FERC on February 3, 2017, which will leave FERC without the quorum needed to be able to hear challenges of this pipeline approval. The absence of a quorum at … Continue Reading
February 01, 2017
Warren: Americans Cannot Trust Rex Tillerson to be a Strong Advocate for US Interests
Washington, DC - In remarks delivered on the Senate floor Tuesday evening, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren detailed her opposition to Rex Tillerson's nomination to serve as Secretary of State. She stated that Tillerson's "extensive and longstanding ties with Russia mean that the United States of America simply cannot trust him to be a strong advocate for the interests of our country." The Senate is expected to vote on Tillerson's nomination on Wednesday. In her speech, Warren explained … Continue Reading
February 01, 2017
Senate Dems Call Out Trump Administration for Appointee Hires with History of Making Racist, Bigoted, and Misogynistic Statements
Recent report shows several hires by the Trump transition team at the Department of Education have used social media to make hateful statements about African-Americans, transgender people, and women-LINK Today in a new letter Senators says they are "deeply troubled" with the employment decisions and hiring practices being established by the Trump Administration Senators request immediate information of Administration's vetting procedures for appointees and the Department's efforts to promote … Continue Reading
