Elizabeth Warren grabs center stage

• While Warren has ruled out another campaign for president in 2024, her high profile would buttress any bid should Biden himself not run for a second term.
• Another high-profile liberal Democrat, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), hasn't ruled out another presidential campaign — so long as Biden doesn't run for re-election, according to a leaked memo from his former campaign manager Faiz Shakir.

Driving the news: Warren took to the steps of the Supreme Court twice last week to stand with abortion rights activists and give an impassioned speech that's now gone viral.

• "I am here because I am angry, and I am here because the United States Congress can change all of this," Warren said, surrounded by advocates of abortion rights cheering at her every line. She called the court "extremist."
• That moment, supporters say, captured Warren's greatest strengths: her ability to mobilize quickly, validate concerns by lending her voice to the activists and tie the issue back to the economy.
• Since then, she's been all over the airwaves, appearing on "The View" and cable news programs to share her outrage.

The big picture: The senator's influence pervades the party.

It extends from her allies installed across the administration to the White House's leftward shift on student loan-debt cancellation, as well as her 2022 primary endorsements and her public appearances in op-eds, on TV and at rallies.

• Last month, Warren had a blunt message for her party: Democrats will lose in 2022 "if we fail to use the months remaining ... to deliver on more of our agenda," she wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
• She's installed a roster of protégés across the administration who share her goals of aggressive oversight of big banks and other corporations, and the risks she sees looming on Wall Street.
• That's resulted in a network across the Treasury Department, the Department of Education and the National Security Council, plus senior positions at the Democratic National Committee.

Between the lines: Critics worry Warren's "personnel-is-policy" mentality has moved the administration too far left.

• She's been vocal on taxing billionaires, banning members of Congress from trading stock and canceling student loans — which, she frequently reminds Americans, can be done by the president alone.
• The White House has moved toward her on this issue, from initially agreeing to extend the pause on loan repayments until the end of the summer, to now considering a plan to forgive somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000 per student.

• Warren's even set up a student-debt war room, armed with data on the demographics of student loan borrowers.

What they're saying: "She doesn’t run wildly into every battle," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and an adviser to Warren in 2020.

"She picks areas where she can truly a make a difference and engages strategically."

• Warren is "able to offer an emotionally resonant critique of power structures in a way that people can understand," Green added.
• Warren's spokesperson Alex Sarabia told Axios: "The economy under President Biden and the Democratic Congress has created over 8 million new jobs, and Sen. Warren is working every day to help advance the party's agenda to support working families — including by fighting inflation driven by corporate price gouging."

By the numbers: Polling backs up the Warren agenda on many of these issues.

• A Data for Progress poll found a majority of voters believe corporate price gouging is most responsible for rising costs, and that it's among the best messaging for Democrats to win over voters when addressing inflation concerns.
• Nearly 60% of young voters said they're more likely to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate this fall, if Biden were to eliminate some or all of federal student loan debt.