Experimental combo targets Hard-to-Treat breast cancer

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically or cytologically proven metastatic or locally advanced inoperable breast cancer that fulfills one of the following two criteria: * Triple-negative breast cancer * ER and/or PR positive, HER2 negative if their tumors have been shown to be deficient for the FA pathway, based on FA triple stain immunofluorescence (FATSI) screening * HER negative with a known germline BRCA1/2 mutation * Patients with ER- and/or PR-positive breast cancer will be consented to have their existing, or to be obtained, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue screened for FA deficiency * No more than 3 prior chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease will be allowed; any number of prior hormone therapies will be allowed; however, at least 4 weeks should have elapsed since prior chemotherapy (6 weeks for mitomycin C and nitrosoureas and 2 weeks for hormone therapy) or radiation therapy (2 weeks for limited field palliative radiation to the bone) * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%) * Patients with treated brain metastases and life expectancy of greater than 3 months * Patients with known Gilbert syndrome with abnormal unconjugated bilirubin will be eligible * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcL * Platelets \>= 100,000/mcL * Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic acid transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal * Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal * No prior therapy with veliparib for metastatic disease will be allowed * Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately * Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document * Patients must be able to swallow pills Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier * Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents * History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to veliparib or other agents used in study * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Pregnant women are excluded from this study; breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with veliparib * Known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on protease inhibitors are ineligible; HIV-infected patients with adequate cluster of differentiation (CD)4 counts (\> 500) and not on protease inhibitors are eligible * Patients with active seizure or a history of seizures are not eligible * Patients with uncontrolled central nervous system (CNS) metastasis are not eligible; patients with CNS metastases must be stable after therapy for \> 3 months and off steroid treatment prior to study enrollment