Everyone thinks Elizabeth Warren went too far in a too-personal letter she wrote to the SEC chairwoman
The populist Massachusetts Senator called White out on a number of issues, ranging from CEO pay, to the special waivers that the SEC granted felon banks last month that allowed them to continue doing business - and even on White's own conflicts of interest related to her former job and her husband's job as a Wall Street lawyer.
"I am disappointed that you have not been the strong leader that many hoped for - and that you promised to be," Warren wrote. "I hope that you will step up to the job for which you have been confirmed."
White used to work for a law firm that sometimes represents Wall Street firms that sometimes have suits before the SEC. Her husband still works for a separate law firm that does the same, and White has had to recuse herself from a number of SEC proceedings as a result.
While it's not surprising that Warren, who's made bank regulation a rallying point in her two and a half years as a senator, would have strong words for the SEC chair, people do seem to think she went a bit far this time.
The Boston Globe referred to it as "an unusually personal complaint for clubby Washington."
And here's Politico's take:
But in choosing to take on White directly - declaring that she lied to her and shirked her responsibilities - Warren also provided an opportunity for her many critics on Wall Street to rally around a person they consider a tough but fair enforcer of the rules.
When Mary Jo White was nominated SEC Chair, President Obama reportedly said "You don't mess with Mary Jo."
And now that Warren has, she may regret it. The White House White on Tuesday, saying, "The president continues to believe that the reasons that he chose her, based on her experience and her values, continue to be important today."
Usually, when Warren wants to see changes within a government institution, she's pretty good at making that happen. Last year, she managed to prevent an investment banker from getting a top position at the Treasury. And she managed get a decent reaction out of the Federal Reserve when went after them for a 2012 information leak.
We'll see if she can hold that kind of clout this time. As for White, the SEC doesn't sound too fazed.
"Senator Warren's mischaracterization of my statements and the agency's accomplishments is unfortunate, but it will not detract from the work we have done, and will continue to do, on behalf of investors," she said in statement.