WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sharply criticized President-elect Donald Trump's transition team on Thursday, saying he has reneged on his promises to "drain the swamp" and instead has put "swamp monsters" in charge.
"He talked a good game during the campaign and he promised to end corruption. He promised to drain the swamp," Warren said in a speech on the Senate floor.
But as reports have begun to seep out about possible top spots in the administration, including JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon or Goldman Sachs alum Steve Mnunchin as Treasury secretary, Warren accused Trump of giving Wall Street even more influence.
"He is stuffing his transition team full of lobbyists" and special interests, Warren said. "That is literally the opposite of what he said during the campaign."
She derided a call from the Trump administration to prevent people who joined his administration from lobbying the executive branch for five years, saying it would not do enough to limit the revolving door between the government and the private sector.
"Put a clean shirt on a swamp monster doesn't change anything," she said. "Swamp monsters today, swamp monsters wearing clean shirts and ties for the transition team tomorrow and swamp monsters once the transition is over."
Earlier in the week, Warren joined a call to the financial services industry to stand up against Trump's appointment of Stephen K. Bannon to serve as his chief strategist and senior counselor. Warren said Bannon, the editor of Breitbart News, a website that caters to the far right, must be rejected.
"This moment is a test of the moral leadership of the banking and finance community," said a letter signed by Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as well as Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn. "You surely recognize that the views Mr. Bannon espouses and promotes have no place in the White House — just as they would have no place in the companies you operate. His influence could lead the next administration to gut the laws that protect Americans from discrimination, and you have a clear opportunity to announce unequivocally that the banking and finance industry will not tolerate bigotry and prejudice."
The letter was sent to several industry trade groups including the American Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of America, Credit Union National Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association and The Clearing House.
