U.S. Senate's Warren Targets Corporate Influence on Government

(Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren has a new plan to make it harder for Wall Street and other titans of industry to get what they want in Washington.

The U.S. senator from Massachusetts, a Democrat whose rise in national politics coincided with her work to rein in consumer abuses following the financial crisis, announced plans to introduce legislation to curb corporate influence in government. She said the “sweeping anti-corruption” bill would “clean up corporate money sloshing around Washington,” prevent officials from profiting on their public service and “padlock the revolving door between government and industry."

“We can’t win until we pry our government free from the grip of the rich and powerful,” Warren said in a speech Tuesday at an event in Washington hosted by consumer-advocate organizations. “Change is coming.”

Warren didn’t give details about the bill, which could face review by a Republican-controlled Congress. If Democrats succeed in winning back either the House or Senate in November mid-term elections, her proposals could pose greater threats to industries from big banks to pharmaceutical companies. And her speech may be a warning sign of what corporate American can expect to hear more of in the political seasons ahead.

Dubbing her plan as “ending the war on regulations,” Warren also said she wants to change the process agencies use to draft rules, making it harder for companies to influence the process or slow it down.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Dexheimer in Washington at edexheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, Gregory Mott

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