Press Releases
Senator Warren’s Statement on the Department of Labor’s Proposal to Set New Salary Threshold for Overtime Protections
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposal to raise the salary threshold for overtime protections to $35,000 annually, with no automatic updates for inflation. The proposed rule is expected to affect around a quarter of the 4 million workers who would have received a raise under an Obama Administration proposal to raise the threshold to nearly $50,000 in annual earnings. “The … Continue Reading
March 07, 2019
Warren Joins Sanders, Velázquez, Colleagues in Unveiling Legislation to Provide Nutrition Assistance to Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) in introducing the Equitable Nutrition Assistance for the Territories Act of 2019 to restore Puerto Rico's, the Northern Mariana Islands' and American Samoa's access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In the early 1980s, Puerto Rico was removed from SNAP and given a block grant to administer nutrition assistance. The … Continue Reading
March 07, 2019
Senator Warren Joins Bipartisan Call for an Investigation into Non-Compete Agreements Hurting U.S. Workers
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and four of their colleagues in calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the use and abuse of non-compete agreements. Also joining the request for a nonpartisan GAO investigation are U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Non-compete agreements are increasingly used to impose arbitrary … Continue Reading
March 07, 2019
Senators Warren, Cotton, Thune and Sinema Reintroduce National POW/MIA Flag Act
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) today reintroduced the National POW/MIA Flag Act, which would require the POW/MIA Flag to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, every national cemetery, the buildings … Continue Reading
March 06, 2019
Warren Joins Schatz, Pocan, Colleagues in Reintroducing Legislation to the End Student Loan Debt Crisis
Washington, DC -United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Representative Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) and 40 of their Senate and House colleagues in reintroducing the Debt-Free College Act, legislation that will reverse the growing student debt crisis in the United States. The bill restores a path to affordable college by providing states incentives through matching grants to increase investments in public higher education and provide students … Continue Reading
March 06, 2019
Senator Warren and Colleagues Demand Answers on Shamefully Weak SEC Settlement with Corinthian College Executives
Washington, DC - Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in sending a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton seeking answers about last week's feeble settlement with two top Corinthian College executives who materially misled the public about the … Continue Reading
March 05, 2019
Senator Warren Discusses Importance of Vaccines to Preventing and Controlling Disease Outbreaks
SENATOR WARREN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So we've heard today about how important vaccines are to preventing and controlling many diseases, and I want to zero in on one that we are battling right now in Massachusetts. Since last April, 318 outbreak-associated cases of acute hepatitis A virus have been reported in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hep A is a contagious virus that causes liver infection. Older children and adults who acquire the hepatitis A virus can experience a slew of … Continue Reading
March 05, 2019
Warren, Jayapal Release T-Mobile Responses to Their Inquiry About Trump International Hotel Patronage
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) today released T-Mobile's responses to their February 6, 2019 letter inquiring about reports that T-Mobile executives started to regularly patronize President Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. immediately after announcing a proposed merger with its rival, Sprint, and asking T-Mobile to share the amount spent at the Trump property between April 2018, when the proposed merger was … Continue Reading
March 01, 2019
Warren, Blumenthal, Menendez, and Sanders Call on Congressional Leadership to Address Expiring Food and Nutrition Benefits for Puerto Rico in Final Disaster Relief Bill
Washington, DC - As negotiations continue on a supplemental disaster relief bill, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on Congressional leadership to ensure that the final package address the imminent expiration of food and other nutritional benefits for thousands of eligible Puerto Ricans. Unlike fellow U.S. citizens living in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam and the United … Continue Reading
February 28, 2019
Senators Warren and Rubio Reintroduce Bill to Protect Jobs for Workers Struggling with Student Loans
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) today reintroduced the Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers (Protecting JOBs) Act (S.609), legislation that would help to ensure borrowers are not inhibited from working solely because they fell behind on their federal student loan payments. Specifically, the Protecting JOBs Act would prevent states from suspending, revoking or denying state professional, teaching, or driver's licenses … Continue Reading
February 28, 2019
Warren Joins Whitehouse, Cotton, Moulton, and King in Reintroducing ALS Disability Insurance Access Act
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Representatives Seth Moulton (MA-06) and Peter King (NY-02) in reintroducing the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act. The bipartisan bill would eliminate the five-month waiting period before ALS patients can receive the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits they earned by contributing to Social Security. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, … Continue Reading
February 28, 2019
Senators Warren and Blumenthal Investigate Interior Nominee and Former Lobbyist David Bernhardt's Conflicts of Interest
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today sent a letter to the Designated Agency Ethics Official, Scott de la Vega, at the U.S. Department of the Interior Ethics Office (DEO) and to the Deputy Inspector General, Mary Kendall, at the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General, expressing concern over conflicts of interest and potential ethics violations by David Bernhardt, the Acting Secretary of the Department … Continue Reading
February 28, 2019
Warren, Booker, Deutch Investigate Private Prisoner Transport Company Following Reports of Inhumane and Unsafe Conditions
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Representative Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) sent a letter to Joel Brasfield, President of Prisoner Transportation Services, LLC (PTS), a private prisoner transport company that contracts with state and local law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities to transport pretrial arrestees and prisoners across interstate or intrastate jurisdictional lines. PTS and its subsidiaries have come under … Continue Reading
February 27, 2019
Western Massachusetts Communities to be Included in Health Study of Harmful Chemicals
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) applauded an announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) that Hampden County and the Barnes Air Reserve Base surrounding area will be included in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) health study to determine the health effects of occupational exposure of PFAS. PFAS are harmful chemicals that can be found in a type of … Continue Reading
February 26, 2019
Warren, Colleagues Continue to Call for HELP Committee Hearings on Hurricanes' Impact on Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with five of her colleagues on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to once again request that the Committee hold hearings to assess the challenges facing the health and educational systems in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Senator Warren was joined by Senators Bernie … Continue Reading
February 26, 2019
Warren Joins Bipartisan Group to Improve VA Outreach to Native American Veterans
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has cosponsored the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Tribal Advisory Committee Act, which Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) reintroduced this month.The bipartisan bill would establish a VA Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs, improving the VA's outreach, health care and benefits for Native Americans. The Committee will facilitate … Continue Reading
February 22, 2019
Newly-Released GAO Report on Workplace Safety Among DOD Contractors Suggests Rampant Labor Law Violations
Washington, DC - The Government Accountability Office released a new report yesterday, as required by a 2018 defense bill provision secured by United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), indicating widespread, serious workplace safety violations among Department of Defense (DOD) contractors and gaps in DOD's process for reviewing prospective contractors' safety records. DOD spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on goods and services provided by contractors … Continue Reading
February 22, 2019
Following Revelations About Fraud at Wells Fargo, Sen. Warren Writes to Fed Chair: Don't Remove Growth Cap Until Tim Sloan is Fired
Washington, DC - Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell once again urging him not to lift growth cap restrictions on Wells Fargo until Tim Sloan is removed from his role as CEO. Her letter comes in the wake of a deeply troubling new report in Capitol Forum that reveals that, beginning in 2016, employees in the Wholesale Banking division of Wells Fargo "routinely falsified clients' signatures and otherwise doctored paperwork" in … Continue Reading
February 22, 2019
Warren Seeks Answers from DOD & State Department on Reports of American Weapons Transferred to Suspected Terrorists and Militias
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) yesterday sent a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting information on the suspected retransfer of American weapons from foreign governments to suspected terrorists, armed militias, and other unauthorized third-party, non-state actors. Senator Warren's letter follows a recent investigation by CNN, which found that "Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have … Continue Reading
February 21, 2019
Warren Joins Klobuchar and Senate Colleagues in Letter Pressing Department of Education to Address Backlog of Student Loan Forgiveness Requests
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in a letter pressing the Department of Education to immediately address the backlog of federal student loan forgiveness requests from borrowers impacted by predatory practices. Also joining in this effort are Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein … Continue Reading