ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Warren Goes Silent on Equal Pay Day After Free Beacon Report

Warren only Democratic woman in Senate not to recognize Equal Pay Day

Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Elizabeth Warren / Getty Images
April 5, 2017

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) failed to acknowledge Equal Pay Day for the first time in her Senate career after it was reported on Tuesday that women working in her Senate office earned just 71 percent of what was earned by men.

Warren has used Equal Pay Day, which fell on April 4 this year, in years past as an opportunity to speak out on the gender pay gap. Last year she took to the Senate floor to call Equal Pay Day a "national day of embarrassment" and pledged to continue her "fight" until the pay gap was erased. She gave similar statements on Equal Pay Day in 20152014, and 2013, her first year in the Senate.

This year, Warren was the only female Democratic senator who ignored Equal Pay Day entirely, and it was not due to a lack of opportunity.

She delivered a nearly 10 minute speech Tuesday afternoon and made no mention of equal pay. The topic of speeches during the session was the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch, but that didn't stop fellow Democratic Senators Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), or Kamala Harris (Calif.) from acknowledging Equal Pay Day.

Warren didn't even bother to send out a tweet recognizing Equal Pay Day—setting her apart from the other 15 Democratic women in the Senate.

It wasn't just a woman thing—Equal Pay Day was recognized by senior congressional Democrats and party leaders as well.

Even Ivanka Trump chimed in to voice her belief that "women deserve equal pay for equal work."

Warren's office did not respond to an inquiry into whether it planned to recognize Equal Pay Day before it was reported that the median male salary in her office was over $20,000 greater than the median female salary. The five top earners in Warren's office were all men.

Warren has yet to comment on the pay gap in her office.

Published under: Elizabeth Warren