WASHINGTON — In her book released this year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren recounted a dinner she had with President Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, in April 2009, when Warren was the outspoken chairman of a congressionally appointed panel probing the government’s response to the financial crisis.
“Larry leaned back in his chair and offered me some advice. … He teed it up this way: I had a choice. I could be an insider, or I could be an outsider. Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don’t listen to them. Insiders, however, get lots of access and a chance to push their ideas. People — powerful people — listen to what they have to say. But insiders also understand one unbreakable rule. They don’t criticize other insiders.”
Warren ignored the warning.
And if the past few weeks are any indication, she can operate as an insider without giving her up outsider credentials. She’s remained outspoken but has become even more influential. She hasn’t stopped throwing bombs at the rich and powerful — and causing trouble for the White House — but she’s won a spot in Senate leadership, changed the shape of congressional debates over financial regulation and continued to draw widespread attention as a potential presidential candidate.
It all helps to explain why 300 former Obama campaign officials last week urged her to run in 2016.
In the past week, Warren galvanized liberals across Capitol Hill against a spending bill that weakened a key provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that tightened oversight of Wall Street.
The Senate passed the legislation Saturday but not before Warren and other liberals asserted their power in a confrontation with the White House, even winning over House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had supported the legislation.
The history of Obama’s presidency, in many ways, is a story of compromises that disappointed liberals but still achieved substantial policy gains for Democrats, including the Affordable Care Act.
Looking forward, the power of Warren and likeminded senators seems to be growing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made her a member of leadership. In the next Senate, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee will be Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. The top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee will be Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a self-avowed socialist. It’s hard to imagine any of them leading the way on any legislation the Senate will consider, and it’s equally difficult to know how Warren would respond if she was actually in a position where she had to negotiate legislation.
