Aides: Warren to go on Banking Committee

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. senator-elect from Massachusetts and bank critic, is likely to join the Senate Banking Committee, aides told The Wall Street Journal.

The decision will be made in January after the new Senate convenes. The Democratic caucus has the final say on committee assignments but rarely disputes the recommendations made by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Warren was an important advocate for greater consumer protection in the financial services sector before she left the Obama administration to teach at Harvard Law School and run for the Senate. Left-wing groups such as MoveOn.org have been pushing for a place on the Banking Committee.

"Wall Street CEOs, the same ones who wrecked our economy ... still strut around Congress ... demanding favors," she said in a speech at the Democratic Convention.

Banking executives and industry lobbyists say they have not been trying to block Warren from the committee. MoveOn said it had raised thousands of dollars to push for her and accused "Wall Street" of trying to keep her off.