WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) rolled out a fresh attack against Republicans on Tuesday: They're wasting huge amounts of time.
Pointing to recent GOP efforts to defund the Department of Homeland Security and Planned Parenthood and to attach abortion legislation to a human trafficking bill, among other examples, Warren said Republicans were spending their time chewing through partisan menu items that went nowhere.
"In the past six months, they have burned huge amounts of time as they try to shut down Homeland Security, tried to build a pipeline to help a Canadian oil company, tried to turn a human trafficking bill into a referendum on abortion and now tried to defund Planned Parenthood," Warren said. "All this instead of working on the kind of issues that would help level the playing field for hardworking people."
Watch Warren's full remarks, above.
Instead, she said, the GOP should at least be willing to consider Democratic proposals aimed at helping working people, such as guaranteeing workplace schedule flexibility and raising the minimum wage.
"For years now, this economy has been great for those at the top. But for everyone else, it's getting harder and harder to make it from paycheck to paycheck," Warren said, driving home a message she has been emphasizing for years.
"The world is changing and Congress can make decisions that help working people stay in the game and help level the playing field, or we can just turn our backs," she added. "So what have Republicans done over the past six months to try to make families a little more secure, to give people a fighting chance? What have they done?"
After making the case for her favored policies, the Massachusetts Democrat suggested Republicans were not pursuing such proposals because they were too busy helping lobbyists, oil companies, bankers and other wealthy, well-connected interests.
"People say that Washington doesn't work, but that's wrong," Warren said. "Washington works great for the right people."
Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.