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Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to shape American politics as one of the country’s most influential progressive leaders. The 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat, known for her sharp policy advocacy, recently made headlines again in 2025—co-sponsoring sweeping bipartisan housing reform legislation aimed at addressing the nation’s affordability crisis. This political moment came shortly before a public incident in which she took a stumble on the Senate floor during a vote, prompting a rare moment of bipartisan unity when colleagues from across the aisle rushed to assist her after the fall.
A longtime champion for working families, Warren has dedicated her career to promoting student debt relief, enforcing corporate accountability, and expanding consumer protections. From her presidential campaign in 2020 to her continued push for economic justice, her influence shows no signs of waning.
Find out more about her below.
She Went From Public School Teacher to Harvard Law Professor
After graduating from the University of Houston, Warren taught children with disabilities at a public school, before deciding to go to law school at Rutgers University. Warren worked as a lawyer for several years while raising her two kids, Amelia and Alexander, then going back to Rutgers — this time to teach. She later became the assistant dean at the University of Houston Law Center, taught at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. After leaving Penn in 1995, Warren 1996 became the highest-paid professor at Harvard University.
First Woman Elected to the U.S. Senate From Massachusetts
Warren announced her Senate campaign in 2011, and soon gained national attention after giving an impassioned speech about why she thinks the rich should pay more taxes — something she still believes today as a presidential candidate. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” Warren said. “Nobody. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.”
Joe Biden swore Warren into office in 2013. Warren has positioned herself as a champion of the middle class during her time in Senate and served on innumerable committees and subcommittees: the Committee on Armed Service, the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and a Special Committee on Aging.
Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. https://t.co/28kyKe777L
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 5, 2020
She Ran for President in 2020 With a Focus on “Big Structural Change”
Whatever the issue, Warren has a thoroughly thought-out plan in place. Her goals as president if elected in 2020, are to “end Washington corruption and fix our Democracy; make the rich pay their fair share; fight climate change and build a green economy; fix our broken healthcare system; ensure racial and economic justice and opportunity for all; raise wages and create more American jobs; hold big corporations accountable; build financial security for everyone; protect our communities, and fix our foreign policy and end our endless wars.” The details for each plan are laid out here.
Her Native American Ancestry Claims Sparked a Feud With Donald Trump
Warren, a frequent Trump critic, was dubbed “Pocahontas” by the president for saying that she was part Cherokee. At a July 2018 rally, the president said he’d donate $1 million to the charity of her choice if she took a DNA test that proved she’s Native American. She did, and asked him to donate to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. Trump claimed he never made the bet, and still uses the bigoted nickname when referring to the senator.
Warren said in 2012 while running for Senate that she and her brothers had been told by older relatives that they had Cherokee ancestry, saying, “being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born.” She faced backlash when it was revealed that she was listed as Native American in Harvard’s federal affirmative action forms, with some, including Republican opponent Scott Brown, claiming that she used her supposed heritage to get ahead. A comprehensive investigation by the Boston Globe concluded that she didn’t benefit professionally.
Cherokee leaders criticized her taking the DNA test, because although it determined that she was a very small percentage Native American, she didn’t share their heritage or culture. Warren apologized for any “harm” she caused at an August 2019 presidential forum on Native American issues in Sioux City. “I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations that we’ve had together,” she said.
She Helped Create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
In 2008, long before she was a senator, Warren was asked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come to Washington, DC, to lend her expertise. Reid proposed that Warren, then a lawyer, head a commission overseeing the Wall Street bailout. That led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency that has given $12 billion back to Americans after the recession.
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