Eden: SEC Chair Mary Jo White failed

Win with Warren
Robert --

When Elizabeth Warren takes on Wall Street -- with the support of Americans like you who are fed up with business as usual -- there's no limit to what we can accomplish together. Now, we've got a new fight on our hands and Sen. Warren needs your support to win.

When Mary Jo White faced confirmation hearings to Chair the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2013, she talked like a progressive. Knowing she needed the support of leaders like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, White swore she would strengthen the SEC's ability to enforce the law on Wall Street, and make sure that all wrongdoers, no matter the size, would be "aggressively and successfully called to account."

SEC Chair Mary Jo White failed to keep those promises to Elizabeth Warren and others, including neglecting to implement the "CEO pay rule" -- the requirement that public corporations disclose the ratio between the pay of their CEO's and the pay of their median worker.

The CEO pay rule is a critical component of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2010, which would allow the public and the media to see clearly for the first time just how executive salaries are fueling the growing income inequality gap. But it has taken nearly FIVE years for the SEC to implement the CEO pay rule.

That's just one big reason why Elizabeth Warren called out Mary Jo White last week for her "extremely disappointing" leadership in a scathing 13-page letter, demanding to know why White has been letting Wall Street off the hook.

Elizabeth Warren's scorching letter provoked, as POLITICO put it, "a swift and furious reaction" from Wall Street and corporate Democrats alike. With Wall Street going on offense, Democracy for America was quick to defend Sen. Warren's actions, as tens of thousands of DFA members signed our petition asking the SEC to implement the CEO pay rule now, in addition to other demands made in Warren's letter.

Together, we can win. But we need your help. Will you chip in $3 now so we can ramp up our campaign to hold SEC Chair Mary Jo White accountable for implementing the CEO pay rule -- and all of the demands made in Elizabeth Warren's 13-page letter?

It appears that Elizabeth Warren -- amplified by your activism -- is getting results. On Thursday, just two days after Warren's letter, the SEC released an analysis that will nail down a critical piece of the CEO pay rule, paving the way to put the rule on the books according to the exact timeline Elizabeth Warren requested.

That's an important step, but it's only the beginning. In her letter last week, Elizabeth Warren asked Mary Jo White for several key things in addition to progress on the CEO pay rule. Sen. Warren:
  • Demanded an explanation for why so many settlements with big banks were letting them off the hook without an admission of guilt
  • Asked for a detailed accounting of all the cases Mary Jo White has recused herself from due to her extremely close ties to Wall Street
  • Wants an explanation for why the SEC is keeping additional campaign finance disclosure rules off the table, allowing corporations to continue getting away with secretly sponsoring shadowy right-wing organizations
We think we deserve answers on every single one of these issues.

Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to hand over these explanations no later than July 1. We're ready to do everything we can to turn up the pressure on Mary Jo White and make sure that she meets that deadline. Together, with your help, we can win the battle to make the SEC do more to hold Wall Street accountable and give working families a fighting chance.

Do you want to see the SEC respond to Elizabeth Warren's demands and start holding Wall Street's feet to the fire? Then pitch in $3 now so we can ramp up pressure on Mary Jo White to meet Warren's July 1 deadline.

Thanks for standing with Elizabeth Warren and Democracy for America. Together, we're unstoppable.

- Eden James

Eden James, Political Director
Democracy for America

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