Even before the fate of Thursday’s fight over a government spending bill was known, it was clear that Elizabeth Warren was the week’s winner.
The first-term Massachusetts senator demonstrated the power she wields in the Democratic Party by rallying liberals on multiple fronts during the week. She led House Democrats to risk a government shutdown over a roll-back of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law while also ginning up opposition to Obama’s nominee to a Treasury post.
“She’s rising in stature the longer she’s in Washington and taking on these leadership roles, and taking on Reid and Obama can only help her,” said Jeremy Mayer, a political scientist at George Mason’s School of Public Policy. “What we saw this week is that Liz Warren is going to establish a role as scourge of Wall Street, and that is going to play extremely well with the Democratic base.”
Warren picked a fight over a measure that previously had substantial popularity among Democrats. Known as the swaps push-out, the Dodd-Frank provision was meant to prohibit derivatives trading in divisions of banks that would receive taxpayer assistance in case they failed. Seventy Democrats had previously supported legislation to repeal it, including House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters.
Warren, however, was able to generate mass opposition to the bill following her call to House Democrats on Wednesday to vote against it. She raised enthusiasm using a floor speech, press releases and a tweet asking followers to join her “in opposing the #CitigroupShutdown.” The hashtag was a reference to reports that the Dodd-Frank repeal measure had been written by lobbyists for Citigroup.
By Thursday, the Democrats who had previously supported the measure were silent or had switched positions.
After the White House began calling Democrats to support the bill, Waters said she would fight the bill no matter who was lobbying for it.
Warren’s intervention into the House’s vote drew comparisons to the efforts by Sen. Ted Cruz, the right-wing Texan, to try to sway House Republicans in last year’s government shutdown.
But Warren also had success throughout the week gaining senators to join her in trying to stop the nomination of Lazard banker Antonio Weiss to the post of Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Democrats Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Al Franken of Minnesota and the moderate Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Warren in staking out opposition to Weiss because of his Wall Street background.
“Based on his record and qualifications as a Wall Street investment banker I don’t have confidence that he will work to even the playing field for middle-class families,” Baldwin said in announcing her opposition to Weiss.
It’s not the first time Warren has tried to hold up an Obama appointee. She played a leading role in blocking the nomination of former Clinton and Obama adviser Larry Summers to Federal Reserve chairman, paving the way for Janet Yellen’s eventual selection.
But by gaining support among Senate and House Democrats, Warren has elevated her own profile and changed the political dynamic, said Simon Johnson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who has written about finance’s influence on politics and a leading proponent of financial reform.
The Democratic Party for years has had senators highly critical of Wall Street, including Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and the retiring Carl Levin of Michigan.
But there’s “no question Elizabeth Warren has the ability to grab attention and raise money and mobilize people,” said Johnson, adding that “she has lit a fire.”
Johnson noted in particular the populist nature of Warren’s appeal: By Thursday, the opponents of the Dodd-Frank repeal measure included Louisiana Republican David Vitter. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig, also a Republican, issued a statement Wednesday also warning against the provision.
