Press Releases
Whitehouse Statement on Barrett Confirmation Vote
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement this evening on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "It is a sad day for the Senate and for the Court. My Republican colleagues smashed norms and traditions of the world's 'greatest deliberative body' in a headlong pursuit, for someone, of Supreme Court power. They put the ru… Continue Reading
10.24.20
Whitehouse Offers Resolution Condemning Dark Money Effort to Pack Supreme Court
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, just offered a resolution on the Senate floor expressing a sense of the Senate that unlimited anonymous spending to influence our judiciary undermines the integrity of our judicial system and damages Americans' confidence that all people receive equal justice under law. Whitehouse offered the resolution as an alternative to a Republican measure seeking to limit Congress's longstanding authority… Continue Reading
10.21.20
Whitehouse, Hassan Statement on DOJ Settlement with Purdue Pharma
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) released the following statement today on the settlement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice and opioid maker Purdue Pharma: "The Department of Justice owes it to the millions of Americans affected by the opioid epidemic to hold Purdue Pharma and its leadership accountable. While we are still reviewing all the details, a rushed settlement with a company that cannot pay and a family that has shielded itself from t… Continue Reading
10.21.20
Whitehouse Calls for Robust COVID-19 Relief Package to Help RI Families, Small Businesses, & Local Governments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today issued the following statement after Senate Democrats voted against the Republican-led so-called "skinny" pandemic response bill, which is less than a quarter of the size of the proposal put forth by House Democrats: "Democrats will not support an emaciated proposal that leaves families and small businesses out to dry and lets cities and towns drown in red ink. In the midst of a national crisis in which health and economic indicato… Continue Reading
10.20.20
To Further the ‘Calamari Comeback,’ RI Delegation is Angling to Give Ocean State Fishermen a Greater Say on Squid Quotas
WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to give Rhode Island fisherman a voice and voting representation on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), which manages some of the most important fish stocks for the state's commercial fishing industry - chief among them squid, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and U.S. Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline, today announced the reintroduction of the Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act. The bill would add Rho… Continue Reading
10.13.20
Whitehouse Statement on SCOTUS Halting Census Count
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court granting the Trump administration's request to halt the Census count: "This decision, rendered without explanation, fits into a pattern of behavior by the Roberts Court that robs Americans of their voice in their democracy and undermines Americans' confidence in our judiciary. The Trump administration was caught red-handed trying to inject politics into the Census count, … Continue Reading
10.12.20
Whitehouse Delivers Opening Remarks on SCOTUS Nomination’s Effect on Health Care
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered the following opening remarks today at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Whitehouse, a senior member of the Committee, highlighted the effect of the rushed nomination on Americans' health care in the midst of a raging pandemic, noting the decade-old push by Senate Republicans and special interests to tear down the Affordable Care Act. He discussed months of delay by Senate Republic… Continue Reading
10.08.20
Whitehouse Statement on DC Circuit Case on Clean Power Plan Replacement
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, released the following statement on the challenge before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to the Trump administration's Clean Power Plan replacement rule: "There's no better example of the Trump EPA's rampant cronyism, conflicts of interest, and corruption than this do-nothing rule. The Trump administration's toothless replacement for the C… Continue Reading
10.08.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing the Assault on Our Democracy by Republican-appointed Judges
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Tom Udall, D-N.M., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., today led Senate Democrats in releasing a new report outlining the ways campaign finance laws and the right to vote have been gradually dismantled by conservative Supreme Court justices, with Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee posing further threats to American democracy. This is the fourth in a series of Captured Reports by Senate Democrats. In the report, "Cap… Continue Reading
10.07.20
Whitehouse Statement on Family Separation Revelations
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today regarding new reporting on the Department of Justice Inspector General's findings related to the Trump administration's child separation policy: "The active participation of senior Department of Justice officials-including the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General-in President Trump's plan to deliberately and callously tear apart immigrant fami… Continue Reading
10.06.20
ICYMI: The New Yorker Reports on Whitehouse and Hassan Efforts to Hold Purdue Pharma and Sackler Family Accountable During Settlement Negotiations with Justice Department
Washington, DC - In case you missed it, The New Yorker published an article by Patrick Radden Keefe that reported on U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan's (D-NH) efforts to push the Department of Justice to hold Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, accountable in newly revealed settlement negotiations as the company goes through federal bankruptcy. In their letter, the Senators cited the Department of Justice's past failure to proceed with serious criminal cha… Continue Reading
10.05.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing How Supreme Court Nominee Could Escalate Corporate Takeover of Our Judiciary
Read full report here (PDF) Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) released a new report detailing how President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court could solidify the corporate capture of our courts. The report highlights how The Roberts Five - the five-justice Republican majority led by Chief Justice Roberts - and President … Continue Reading
10.04.20
Whitehouse, Hassan Call on Justice Department to Hold Purdue Accountable in Newly Revealed Settlement Negotiations
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid a sweetheart deal for the opioid-maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, in newly revealed settlement negotiations as the company goes through federal bankruptcy. In a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr, the senators urge the Department to avoid its mistakes of the past, highlighting the Department's failure to proceed with criminal charges laid ou… Continue Reading
10.01.20
House Passes Whitehouse-Sullivan-Menendez Marine Debris Bill
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) are applauding the passage of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act in the House of Representatives today. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act was introduced in June 2019 to address the plastic debris crisis threatening coastal economies and harming marine life. The legislation seeks to help reduce the creation of plastic waste, find uses for the plastic waste that already exists to keep it from entering the ocea… Continue Reading
10.01.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing How Labor and Workers' Rights are at Risk with New Supreme Court Vacancy
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Robert Casey (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Jack Reed (D-RI) released a new report outlining the threat that President Trump's Supreme Court nominee poses to labor and workers' rights. In the first in a series of Captured Courts reports focused on issues, Senate Democrats have followed the dark money behind judicial decisions and are shining… Continue Reading
09.28.20
Senator Whitehouse & Rep. Quigley Introduce New Bill to Prepare Power Grids for Clean Energy Future
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) today introduced legislation to prepare the nation's power grids to affordably and reliably deliver clean energy. The Advanced Energy Technologies and Grid Efficiency Act of 2020 instructs a cross-section of federal and regional agencies to work together to pinpoint gaps in grid services and operator platforms that may hamper the introduction of clean energy sources to the power grid. The legislation… Continue Reading
09.26.20
Whitehouse Statement on Trump SCOTUS Nomination
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on President Donald Trump's selection of a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just weeks before the November 3 Election: "It doesn't matter who the nominee is; it matters who's behind this pick. The American people overwhelmingly want the president sworn in in January to replace Justice Ginsburg. We do not know who that president will be. Justice Gi… Continue Reading
09.23.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing How Health Care and Reproductive Rights are at Risk with New Supreme Court Vacancy
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released a new report on how Americans' health care is at risk because of the new Supreme Court vacancy following the tragic death of Justice Ginsburg. In the first in a series of Captured Courts reports focused on issue… Continue Reading
09.22.20
Reed & Whitehouse Call for Investigation into Trump Admin’s Political Interference in COVID-19 Response
WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to prevent the Trump Administration from suppressing scientific findings and impeding scientific work by agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today joined Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and 30 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing the Science and Transparency Over Politics … Continue Reading
09.22.20
Whitehouse Testifies on the Right-Wing Capture of Our Courts
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, testifies today at 2 p.m. before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property & the Internet about how Republicans and their special interest backers are packing our courts with extremist, partisan judges and what that means for an independent judiciary and the rule of law. Whitehouse will also address how the massive dark money campaign seeking to capture o… Continue Reading
