Press Releases
Senate Dems. Request Docs. Related To Leonard Leo’s Work Leading Trump Admin. Judicial Selections, Say Leo Hand-Picked Trump Judges While Raking In Undisclosed Sums From Related Advocacy Groups—A Potential Conflict Of Interest And Violation Of Federal Ethics Law
Washington, DC - Senate Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) today sent a series of letters to Leonard Leo, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Dale Cabaniss, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and Federalist Society President and CEO Eugene Meyer raising concerns with potential conflicts of interest related to Mr. Leo's work leading and advising the Trump ad… Continue Reading
03.04.20
Reed, Whitehouse, Senate Democrats to Azar: Trump Administration’s Health Care Sabotage Undermines Coronavirus Response
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and other Democrats in demanding that Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar take immediate action to address the many ways the Trump Administration's health care sabotage has undermined our preparedness for and ability to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, the Senators asked Secretary Azar to commit to making any pote… Continue Reading
03.04.20
RI Delegation Announces $500K from CDC to Bolster Coronavirus Containment Efforts; $4.9+ Million More on the Way in Bipartisan Supplemental Aid Package
Washington, D.C. - As Rhode Island ramps up efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, members of the state's congressional delegation announced an initial $500,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support statewide preparations. At least $4.9 million more in funding is expected to be provided to Rhode Island in the days ahead as part of an $8.3-billion bipartisan emergency supplemental aid package passed by the House today. The funding package could be approve… Continue Reading
03.04.20
Whitehouse, Merkley, Malinowski Write Pompeo to Correct Record, Call for Pompeo to Defend State Department Employees
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo correcting inaccurate comments by Pompeo at the Munich Security Conference and encouraging him to do more to support State Department employees in the face of unfounded attacks by political partisans. The members call Pompeo's failure to defend State Department employees, including former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, a … Continue Reading
03.03.20
Whitehouse Introduces Legislation to Strengthen Patient Safety
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced The Patient Safety Improvement Act to strengthen patient safety. The legislation seeks to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs) and preserve the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. The bill includes new measures to improve safety for pediatric patients and to encourage better transitions of care across multiple health care settings and providers. "Health care-associated infections are a vexing challenge - da… Continue Reading
02.27.20
Sens. Whitehouse, Menendez, Enzi, Reps. Dingell, LaHood, Higgins, Bilirakis Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Improve Hemophilia Patients’ Access to Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12), Darin LaHood (R-IL-18), Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) today introduced the Hemophilia Skilled Nursing Facilities Access Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve access to critical health care services provided through Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) for individuals with hemophilia. Currently, Medicare patients … Continue Reading
02.27.20
Whitehouse Calls for $8.5-Billion Emergency Appropriation to Protect Rhode Islanders from Coronavirus
Washington, D.C. - With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urging Americans to prepare for the potential of a "significant disruption" from the novel coronavirus, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is calling on Congress to swiftly approve an $8.5-billion emergency appropriation for robust efforts to protect Americans from the quickly spreading virus. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has released a detailed proposal for deploying the $8.5 billion in funding to… Continue Reading
02.19.20
Senators Call for Expanded Investigation of Giuliani Contacts with Justice Department
Washington, DC - Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a group of senators in calling on the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General to expand his investigation of Rudy Giuliani's contacts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to include troubling contacts elsewhere in the Department. Giuliani is reported to have met on numerous occasions with top Justice officials with authority over matters involving Giuliani'… Continue Reading
02.18.20
RI Nets Over $8 Million in Federal Security & Emergency Preparedness Grants
PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that Rhode Island will receive $8,030,040 in federal funding to enhance public safety and support emergency preparedness. The state will also receive grants to help at-risk non-profit organizations and houses of worship secure their facilities against targeted attacks. The federal funds, which were awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) an… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Reed, Whitehouse Join Bipartisan Call for HHS to Reimburse States, Cities for Coronavirus Efforts
Washington, D.C. - Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and more than a dozen colleagues from both sides of the aisle to call on the Department of Health and Human Services to establish clear guidelines for how state and local governments will be reimbursed for costs incurred while assisting the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak. "We write to ask that your department establish clear guidelines for state and local governm… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse Co-Chairs Bipartisan Delegation to 2020 Munich Security Conference
Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) this evening is setting off for Munich, Germany to join more than 450 world leaders and international security decision-makers at the annual Munich Security Conference. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Whitehouse will lead a delegation of 21 members of Congress to the world's major global forum for the discussion of security policy. Whitehouse has served as the Democratic lead for the Congressional delegation to the conference since 2013, o… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse, Senate Judiciary Democrats Call for Investigation of Political Interference at DOJ
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, along with all of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, today wrote Chairman Lindsey Graham asking that the committee immediately initiate an investigation into political interference at the Justice Department, including this week's reduction in the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone. "The Justice Department's mission 'to ensure fair and impartial justice for all Americans' requires that its prosecutorial decisions remain fre… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Senators Press Barr on Politicization of Justice Department Administration of Immigration Courts
Washington, DC - In a letter sent today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a group of senators in pressing Attorney General William Barr for information and documents related to the brazen politicization and maladministration of American immigration courts under President Donald Trump. Against the backdrop of extreme and cruel rhetoric trained on immigrants by President Trump, the Trump Justice Department has quietly undermined immigration courts' ability to deliver impartial justice in a n… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse and Cardin Urge Federal Action to Protect Local Water Systems from Climate Change
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) are calling for urgent federal action to protect water systems from climate change impacts in response to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today. The report, "Water Infrastructure and Climate Change Impacts," documents the need for the federal government to work with states and local utilities to strengthen the resilience of water infrastructure to climate impacts. The report makes practica… Continue Reading
02.10.20
Whitehouse Statement Ahead of Trump Budget Release
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today issued the following statement ahead of the release of President Trump's FY2021 budget proposal: "Everyone knows the latest Trump budget is dead on arrival in Congress. It's merely a political stunt to gratify extremists in his party. What we need is budget reform in Congress to address all the drivers of our massive deficits and help us to a bipartisan budget that honors the priorities o… Continue Reading
02.05.20
Whitehouse Statement on Final Impeachment Votes
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on today's votes in the Senate on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Whitehouse voted to convict on both articles. "The facts are clear, the conduct impeachable, and the obstruction unprecedented - and yet the White House and its allies in the Senate have stymied the Constitution's process for removing a corrupt president. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: It is . . . midnight withi… Continue Reading
02.04.20
Whitehouse Statement on State of the Union
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) tonight released the following statement: "The legacy of President Trump's term will include his quest to torpedo protections for people with pre-existing conditions, worsened wealth inequality, corruption on an unprecedented scale, and willful blindness to the climate crisis. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle must stand against the President's efforts to divide us and instead work together to make progress on the issues Am… Continue Reading
02.04.20
EPW Democrats Wear “Warming Stripes” Pin Ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, ahead of President Trump's third State of the Union Address to Congress, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are sending the message that Americans undoubtedly will not hear from President Trump in his address to Congress. Senators Carper, Whitehouse, Van Hollen are wearing a pin representing the "Warming Stripes" design developed by climate … Continue Reading
02.04.20
Whitehouse Calls on Senate Never to Repeat Trump Impeachment Trial
Washington, DC - Today, ahead of a final vote in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump expected Wednesday, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding the impeachment process. Whitehouse focused his remarks on the troubling conduct of the Trump defense team. He called on the Senate to ensure that future impeachment proceedings adhere to the Constitution and rules of the body, and that the Trump impeachment trial not serve as precedent moving… Continue Reading
02.03.20
Whitehouse, Brown, Schatz and Dems Press GSEs on Preparation for Climate Risks
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) led Senate Democrats in pressing Fannie Mae CEO Hugh Frater and Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman for information on the steps that each of the GSEs are taking to assess and prepare for the effects of climate change on their business and on American communities, homeowners, and renters. "It is critical tha… Continue Reading
