Elizabeth Warren, hard-liner

This wasn’t an isolated incident; after nearly seven months in office, Warren has staked out firm ground to the left of the president and Senate Democratic leaders. She has called for prosecuting the actors in the financial meltdown; urged Senate leaders to invoke the “nuclear option” to help confirm Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she helped create; and was one of just four senators to vote against Obama’s U.S. Trade Representative nominee, demanding more transparency on trade agreements.

For someone elected as a liberal darling after facing opposition for the CFPB job — and whose name is often seen alongside “2016” — Warren’s causing some heartburn for her fellow Democrats.

So after the president’s efforts failed to sway Warren, there was the No. 2 Democratic senator, Dick Durbin, a man who represented Illinois alongside Obama, taking 20 minutes on the Senate floor Thursday to push back against Warren and her student loan position. Compromise was necessary, he said, to avoid hurting students more after so many false starts on legislation to avert skyrocketing rates…

Warren’s hard-line positioning underscores how the Senate is growing increasingly polarized, with younger and more ideologically-driven senators carrying major weight within their respective caucuses.