Weiss, the head of investment banking at Lazard and President Barack Obama’s pick for a top spot at the Treasury Department, was forced to withdraw his nomination last month after facing an onslaught of public opposition led by Warren, the popular liberal Massachusetts senator.
If this was a remarkable defeat for the Obama administration, it was a moment of glowing achievement for some of Warren’s fiercest backers, including Wall Street reform advocates and progressive grassroots leaders who aggressively criticized Weiss’s work at Lazard.
Emboldened by their successful thwarting of his nomination and Warren’s growing clout, liberal activists are energized about their role in Washington this year. Despite Democrats being relegated to minority status in the House and Senate, these groups still think they can make a big splash.
Visions of future political victories
They’re preparing to publicly clash with the administration on future presidential nominees and big-ticket items such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. They’re also looking to pressure Obama to take a tougher stance on expansion of overtime pay and developing stricter rules for brokers on Wall Street.
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Warren agrees.
“To protect consumers and to address sources of systemic financial risk, Congress must maintain the flexibility to impose restrictions on harmful financial products and on the conduct or structure of financial firms. We would oppose including provisions in the TPP that would limit that flexibility,” the senator wrote in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in December.
Liberal activists also have their sights set on unilateral actions the Obama administration could take and bypass the GOP-controlled Congress, such as expanding overtime pay and creating stricter oversight of Wall Street brokers. On both of these issues, they also have the support of their favorite Democratic senator.
“Our members love her,” said Anna Galland, executive director of civic action at MoveOn.org.
