Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told House Democrats to block a government spending bill until an add-on that weakens financial reforms is removed.
“I urge my Democratic colleagues in the House to withhold support for it until this risky give away is removed,” Warren said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
{mosads}The House is voting this week on a $1.1 trillion “cromnibus” that aims to keep most of the government funded through September 2015. If Congress doesn’t act by Dec. 11, the government will shut down.
Warren said Republicans are threatening a government shutdown unless the bill includes repeals to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. She said the provision “goes too far” and would allow big banks to be bailed out by the government after making risky trades.
“Republicans are threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get a chance to repeal it,” Warren said. “Why? It’s about money and it’s about power.”
Warren said the Dodd-Frank law’s goal was to isolate risky trading and ensure taxpayers aren’t on the hook for another bank bailout as was the case in the 2008-2009 financial collapse.
Warren said Congress is working for the wrong people.
“People are frustrated with Congress,” Warren said. “They see a Congress that works just fine for the big guys but won’t lift a finger for them.”
Warren is considered a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.