Sen. Elizabeth Warren slams President-elect Donald Trump's first decisions as president in a series of attacks. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo Warren blasts Trump transition decisions, vows Dodd-Frank battle

Sen. Elizabeth Warren today excoriated Donald Trump's first decisions as president-elect in a series of attacks aimed at financiers on his short list for the Treasury Department and the hiring of Steve Bannon as his White House chief strategist.

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington, the Massachusetts Democrat criticized Trump for "hiring a bunch of lobbyists" to run his transition team and for floating "names of people who've run giant hedge funds ... to be able to run the Treasury or people who've come from industry to be able to run the regulatory agencies."


"The American people understand the revolving door," Warren said. "They're really sick of it."

Warren then took aim at Bannon, the controversial Trump adviser under fire from civil rights groups and Democrats who are accusing the former Breitbart News head of having ties to white nationalism.

Bannon's presence suggests "this is a White House that will embrace bigotry," she said.

Later in the day, Warren sent an eight-page letter to Trump outlining specific concerns with several members of his transition team and potential administration officials.

"If you truly stand by your commitment to making government work for all Americans — not just those with armies of lobbyists on payroll — you must remove the lobbyists and financial bigwigs from your transition team and reinstate a group of advisors who will fight for the interests of all Americans," she said in the letter.

"Maintaining a transition team of Washington insiders sends a clear signal to all who are watching you — that you are already breaking your campaign promises to 'drain the swamp' and that you are selling out the American public."

At Tuesday morning's event, Warren predicted a "battle that's going to be fought hard" over defending post-crisis financial regulations in the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which Trump has pledged to dismantle.

Warren hinted that she would use the upcoming debate as an opportunity to push for changes that make banking rules tougher.

She cited Trump's support for reviving the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, a law separating commercial and investment banking that Warren has also championed. Trump's transition team has not signaled any plans to follow through on that position, which is in the Republican platform.

"It will be interesting to see where Donald Trump goes," Warren said, noting that the memory of Wall Street excesses that led to the 2008 crisis and bailouts had not been forgotten. "The American people get this."