Elizabeth Warren tells Obama to sack SEC chief White

US senator Elizabeth Warren has called on President Barack Obama to take action against the head of the Securities and Exchanges Commission Mary Jo White, in her latest attack on big market influence on Washington.

Warren requested that White be removed from her position in a move that is unlikely to go ahead, but represents another attempt from the progressive left of the Democrat party to pressurise future appointees after November's election.

The senator was critical of White for her lack of pressure on powerful executives.

"Chair White's refusal to move forward on a political spending disclosure rule serves the narrow interests of powerful executives who would prefer to hide their expenditures of company money to advance their own personal ideologies," Warren said.

In the letter written to the current president, Warren said the failure of the SEC to hone in on the disclosure of political spending was a failure on the part of its chief.

Last December a government funding bill prevented the SEC from finalising a rule regarding disclosure, but the Massachusetts senator and others have pointed out that it does not prevent the discussion or exploration of the issue.