Massachusetts Politics & Government Online CommunityElizabeth Warren is going all-in against President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Labor. The Massachusetts senator sent a scathing, 28-page letter detailing questions for Andy Puzder—the CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's parent company, CKE Restaurants—whom Trump selected for the post. Warren is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, which is scheduled to hold Puzder's confirmation hearing Thursday morning. Political insiders used to scoff at the idea that Hillary Clinton would choose Elizabeth Warren for her running mate. But over the past few weeks, there’s been increasing chatter and speculation that it’s a real possibility. Former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a blistering rebuke of 2016 Republican front-runner Donald Drumpf on Thursday, leading an attempt by the party establishment to halt the rise of the outspoken New York billionaire. Romney, a Republican elder statesman and the nominee four years ago, urged Republicans in states that have not yet held nominating contests to back Drumpf's opponents to stop his march to the nomination for the Nov. 8 election to succeed President Barack Obama. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had reached a provisional agreement on terms of a cessation of hostilities in Syria and the sides were closer to a ceasefire than ever before. Elizabeth Warren captivated the political world for a good portion of 2015 with will-she-or-won’t-she suspense over a potential presidential run. By June, even her most ardent supporters conceded she was out, and much of the spotlight trained on the freshman Massachusetts senator shifted as the White House race heated up without her. In my previous column, I took issue with liberals who take a “purist” view of financial regulation—who believe it’s wrong to appoint regulators or elect lawmakers who take campaign contributions from the financial industry, or who’ve worked in that industry in the past, or who won’t pledge never to work for it in the future. The idea is to keep regulation free of corrupting influence, but in fact their position makes it less likely that we regulate the industry well. I wrote about three of the reasons in my last column: If you worry too much about purity, you lose the inside knowledge of the industry that can make regulators more effective, as well as a personal connection with firms that can actually increase the likelihood they’ll comply with the rules. Secretary of State John Kerry, making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, portrayed the international climate deal struck in Paris on Saturday as an important step in battling climate change, not the final one. Asked about the lack of legally binding mechanisms in the deal to make sure countries meet their carbon emissions targets, Kerry said the marketplace would do what governments could not. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet next week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the region to try to stop ongoing violence, although senior U.S. official insisted it was not a renewed effort to broker a peace accord. The State Department said Kerry will travel to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah on a trip that will also include a stop in the United Arab Emirates to discuss the Syrian conflict.
Videos on Massachusetts |  | Tue Jul 26, 2016
While speaking at the DNC, Senator Elizabeth Warren said Donald Trump had no plans other... |
|  | Wed Nov 18, 2015
EPA Chief: Climate Change Is a Threat to National Security |
|  | Wed Oct 15, 2014
Democrat Seth Moulton is locked in a tight race for the 6th Congressional District and ta... |
|  | Thu Sep 18, 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testifies on the United States strategy to defeat the... |
|  | Thu Sep 18, 2014
John Kerry told a Senate committee that more than 50 countries are in the U.S. coalition... |
|  | Wed Sep 17, 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry calls out protesters with the anti-war group Code Pink sayi... |
|  | Fri Jul 18, 2014
Elizabeth Warren gave a compelling middle class centric speech at Netroots Nation 2014. S... |
|  | Thu Jul 03, 2014
Adam Reilly interviews Seth Moulton, candidate for U.S. Congress. |
|  | Thu Jun 26, 2014
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion cl... |
|  | Thu Apr 03, 2014
Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered a floor speech on raising the minimum wage, on April 3... |
|  | Thu Mar 06, 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Russian counterpart, hoping to de-escalate the... |
|  | Wed Feb 12, 2014
Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on the Senate floor on February 12, 2014 about the student... |
|