Press Releases
Whitehouse, Blumenthal & Hirono Challenge Unlawful Appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker as the Acting Attorney General. On November 7, President Trump appointed Whitaker to oversee the Department of Justice - including the Special Counsel's investigation - in violation of the Constitution's Appointme… Continue Reading
11.16.18
Whitehouse Statement on Wheeler Nomination for EPA Administrator
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "The EPA continues to be a poster agency for regulatory capture by polluters. I hoped Scott Pruitt's policy dirty work would dry up after he left the EPA in disgrace, but proposals like the forthcoming rule to weaken or eliminate protections … Continue Reading
11.15.18
Whitehouse Applauds Support for Criminal Justice Reform Legislation
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been a lead cosponsor of Senate legislation to reform the federal criminal justice system, released the following statement on growing White House and congressional Republican support for criminal justice legislation. "For years, our bipartisan group in the Senate Judiciary Committee has been working on legislation to improve our criminal justice system. We have agreed on ways to reform … Continue Reading
11.15.18
Bipartisan Budget Option Added to Budget Overhaul Proposal
Washington, DC - The Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform voted in favor Thursday of an amendment to the Select Committee's budget overhaul proposal offered by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), David Perdue (R-GA), and Roy Blunt (R-MO) that would encourage bipartisan budgets. After decades of dysfunction, including escalating funding brinksmanship in recent years, the Senators' proposal would encourage working across the aisle and create a bipartisan path to sust… Continue Reading
11.07.18
Whitehouse Statement on Sessions Firing
Newport, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding the forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions today: "The attorney general is different from other cabinet officers in that this office must be fiercely independent in its enforcement of the law. Politics has no place in those decisions. "Both the acting attorney general and the president's next nominee must commit to protecting the special c… Continue Reading
11.01.18
Whitehouse Leads Army Corps Head on Tour of Top Rhode Island Water and Coastal Infrastructure Priorities
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and champion of resilient coastal infrastructure in the Senate, led Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James to see several of Rhode Island's top infrastructure priorities. James leads the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in its work maintaining and improving the nation's waterways and coastal infrastructure. Whitehouse and James's tour included visi… Continue Reading
10.20.18
Whitehouse Calls out Wehrum for Flaunting Trump Ethics Pledge
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse would like to know if Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum violated the Trump administration's ethics pledge. In letters sent to President Donald Trump and EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Whitehouse asks how Wehrum could have both signed the pledge banning meetings with former clients and met on numerous occasions with former clients. A former energy industry lawyer representing ExxonMobil, Koch Industri… Continue Reading
10.19.18
Senators Call Out Secret, Partisan Judicial Clerk Training
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) today called into question the propriety of a closed-door training program for federal judicial clerks offered by a dark-money conservative Washington think tank. Promotional materials for the Heritage Foundation's Federal Clerkship Training Academy tout the involvement of sitting federal judges, and say attendees must pledge to "[k]eep strictly confidential" all program materials a… Continue Reading
10.18.18
URI Wins $746K for Aquaculture Worker Training at RI Sea Grant
Providence, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline announced an award of $745,815 in federal funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Rhode Island Sea Grant program at the University of Rhode Island. The funds will help strengthen training programs for entry?level aquaculture workers in Rhode Island and support the development of an online training curriculum that can be deployed nationwide. "Year afte… Continue Reading
10.18.18
Reed & Whitehouse Vow to Uphold ACA and Preserve Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions
*WATCH: Footage of this event is available for viewing here.* CRANSTON, RI - As Republicans sue in federal court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- and with it protections for people with preexisting medical conditions that previously could be denied insurance coverage - and Senate Republican leaders declared their intent to again try and repeal the ACA, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are vowing to defend and uphold the law and prevent people with preex… Continue Reading
10.15.18
Senators Call Out NRA for Using Shell Corporation to Duck Campaign Finance Law
Washington, DC - Nine U.S. Senators are calling on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to take action against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a major Republican advertising firm for using a shell company apparently to skirt campaign finance law to coordinate tens of millions of dollars in political ad spending. The firm, OnMessage, established the shell company, Starboard Strategic, in 2013 with the same staff and founders and in the same offices as OnMessage. The arrangement would … Continue Reading
10.11.18
Bipartisan Bill to Tackle Marine Debris Crisis Signed into Law
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) cheered the signing by the president today of their bipartisan Save Our Seas (SOS) Act, to address the marine debris epidemic affecting America's oceans, shorelines, and inland waterways, as well as other coasts across the globe. The Senators, all members of the Senate Oceans Caucus, introduced the legislation in March 2017 to boost the federal government's domestic and international response to the… Continue Reading
10.11.18
Whitehouse, Senate Judiciary Committee Advance McElroy Nomination for Rhode Island Federal Bench
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Jack Reed (D-RI) cheered the Judiciary Committee's approval of the nomination of Rhode Island Public Defender Mary McElroy for the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island. McElroy now awaits a vote in the full U.S. Senate on confirmation. Reed and Whitehouse originally recommended McElroy for this seat on the federal bench over three years ago. Her nomination was put forward by President Ob… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Whitehouse Bashes Republican Defense of ‘Junk’ Health Insurance Plans
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called out President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans for defending the sale of "junk" health insurance plans that can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and don't cover essential health services, like emergency room visits and maternity care. Senate Republicans voted down a resolution today that would have overturned the Trump rule permitting the sale of junk plans. Yesterday, the White House threatened to veto the r… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Whitehouse Scores Wins for Rhode Island in Water Infrastructure Bill
Washington, DC - Today, the Senate passed the America's Water Infrastructure Act, to improve waterways, harbors, and drinking water infrastructure and support U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in Rhode Island championed by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The bill also includes legislation cosponsored by Whitehouse to give the public greater say in decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that raise rates for electricity customers. "Rhode Island needs strong, sa… Continue Reading
10.09.18
Whitehouse Applauds Acquisition of Rhode Island Offshore Wind Pioneer by Global Industry Leader
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, cheered the half-billion-dollar acquisition of the owner of Rhode Island's Block Island Wind Farm, Deepwater Wind, by one of the world's top offshore wind energy developers, Orsted. "Rhode Island's ocean planning and offshore wind leadership is paying off big," said Whitehouse. "Deepwater's first-in-the-nation offshore wind farm created jobs and powers Rhode Island homes and … Continue Reading
10.06.18
Whitehouse Statement on Kavanaugh Confirmation
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on his vote today against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court: "I developed deep concerns with Judge Kavanaugh early in this process. He holds a narrow view of constitutional protections for women, a troubling affinity for dark money, and a worrying disregard for precedent and important judicial principles. Also, he sides - nine times out … Continue Reading
10.05.18
Senate Declares National Estuaries Week
Washington, DC - The Senate has unanimously approved a resolution designating the week of September 15 through September 22, 2018 as National Estuaries Week. Sponsored by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and 26 others, the bipartisan legislation recognizes the importance of coastal and estuarine regions to our national economy, and reaffirms the Senate's continued support for protecting and restoring these vital resources. "Estuaries are a big part of life in Rhode Island. They sustain our eco… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Whitehouse Statement on FBI Report on Kavanaugh Investigation
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former United States Attorney, released the following statement regarding the FBI's summary of its limited background investigation of Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, which senators were permitted to review today: "If I had received a report like this when I was serving as a United States Attorney, I would have sent it back for more work. Clearly there were considerable constraints … Continue Reading
10.03.18
Whitehouse Cheers Passage of FAA Bill Setting Minimum Seat Size for Air Passengers
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) welcomed passage of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018, which contains his provisions to help improve air passengers' comfort and safety, reduce airfare, and cut pollution. One provision would require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to set minimum seat sizes for passenger aircraft. Another would make it a criminal offense to interfere with the operation of a manned aircraft using a drone, and … Continue Reading
