Warren to banks: We should have ‘broken you into pieces’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) again lashed out at big banks for lobbying to repeal financial reforms made after the economic crisis. 

“A dangerous provision was slipped into a must pass bill,” Warren said Friday.

{mosads}The Senate is considering the $1.1 trillion “cromnibus,” which funds must of the government through September.Warren is trying to whip up opposition to the bill because of a GOP rider that would repeal part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. 

But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blasted her willingness to risk another government shutdown.

“My advice to people on her side is don’t follow her lead,” Graham said on the Senate floor. “She’s the problem.”

He compared her actions to those of his Republican colleagues who shutdown the government over ObamaCare funding in 2013. Graham also admitted that some of the opposition to the cromnibus came from his side of the aisle and warned both Democrats and Republicans not to go down that path because it didn’t work out well for the GOP last time.

Warren was able to rally House Democrats to oppose the bill — although it still passed, but only 57 Democrats supported it.

Warren argues the repeal of the provision is a hand out to powerful banks that would leave taxpayer holding the bag again if risky investments fall through.

“I agree with you Dodd-Frank isn’t perfect,” Warren said. “It should have broken you into pieces.

“If we want to open up Dodd-Frank, let’s do it and really end too big to fail rather than just saying we did.”

The long-term spending bill is expected to pass the Senate, but there are also objects on the Republican side. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has complained that the funding bill still allows the president to execute his immigration order.

House Republicans refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security beyond February as protest to President Obama’s executive order on immigration, but Sessions says that wasn’t good enough.

— This article was updated at 11 a.m. on Dec. 13.