After discussions with our colleagues, we have decided to reopen negotiations on permitting reform. We are hopeful that recent developments are indicative of a positive direction from the Trump administration.
Sheldon Whitehouse
The Public Record
Sheldon Whitehouse is a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving since January 4, 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Whitehouse has focused on a range of issues including environmental protection, healthcare reform, and campaign finance reform. He has been a vocal advocate for addressing climate change and has worked to promote policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and protecting natural resources. Whitehouse has also been involved in efforts to reform the political campaign finance system, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in political donations.
★ Featured Quote
August 18, 2026
We look forward to working on a bipartisan bill that will speed infrastructure development, lower energy costs, and create good-paying jobs.
— Sheldon Whitehouse
Most widely reported
by number of sources- I am here on the floor today to celebrate a significant event in our country's history and in Rhode Island. Every student of American history knows the story of the Boston Tea Party. We all learned about Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty dumping chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest British taxation without representation. What many students don't know is that down in Rhode Island, more than a year earlier, a group of Rhode Island patriots made an even harsher challenge to the British Empire one dark night in June of 1772. I am here to tell their story. The episode began when amid growing tensions with colonists, King George III moved the HMS Gaspee, an armed British customs vessel, into Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. The Gaspee and its captain, Lieutenant William Dudingston, were known for seizing cargo and flagging down ships only to harass, humiliate, and interrogate the colonials. As Nick Bunker, author of the book ``An Empire on the Edge'' wrote, this harassment did not sit well with Rhode Islanders, who had grown accustomed to a level of freedom unique in that time. ``Even by American standards, Rhode Island was an extreme case of popular government.'' The chapter in his book in which he describes this is entitled `` `This Dark Affair': The Gaspee Incident.'' Bunker went on to say: ``Out of all the colonies, Rhode Island was the one where the ocean entered most deeply into the lives of the people.'' And we wanted it free.…2 sources2015govinfo.gov
- I thank the distinguished Senator from Georgia. Climate Change I rise today in my series of ``Time to Wake Up'' speeches to bring attention to two of God's humblest but most useful creatures. Here in the high political majesty of the Senate, it is easy to forget Matthew: ``No man can serve two masters. . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon.'' Who do we serve here? I submit it is mammon, all day long, no doubt about it. Mammon surrounds and submerges us. We swim in its currents. This Senate of ours, this is ``Mammon Hall.'' How easy it is from our perch of worldly power here in Mammon Hall to overlook the humble, and what could be humbler than God's humblest beasts? So, today, I want us to remember two: The bumblebee and the pteropod. When was the last time any of us thought of the humble bumblebee? Not recently, I expect, and not often. We have important things to do. Who can be thinking about bumblebees? Yet, by the millions, by God's plan, these small creatures spend their days out busily pollinating the plants that yield the crops that turn into the food we humans depend on to survive. The humble bumblebee does much more good in God's natural realm than we humans do. On the spectrum between givers and takers of this good Earth's blessings, we humans are way over on the taker end of the spectrum, and the bumblebee--it is humble--but it is way over on the giver end. And the humble pteropod, how many of us even know what it is?…2 sources2015govinfo.gov
- I am here to speak about the success of the Affordable Care Act in Rhode Island. It has been very well managed in Rhode Island, and it has made a very big difference in many, many lives. The marketplace plan that the Affordable Care Act set up in Rhode Island is called Health Source Rhode Island. It has been well run, and it has been successful. For 2019, it has 34,533 people getting health insurance through the plan. We also expanded Medicaid, as the Affordable Care Act allowed. Under the Medicaid expansion, 72,000 Rhode Islanders got coverage that they didn't have before. So if you put those two together, that is 106,000- plus Rhode Islanders who got the benefit, the comfort, and the confidence of coverage for healthcare as a result of this bill. It is 10 percent of our population, and it has driven our uninsured numbers way, way down, into low single digits, which has been a very big win for us. I will also say that we have taken very good advantage of the accountable care organization provisions of the Affordable Care Act, with two of the best performing ACOs in the country as two of our lead primary care provider groups: Coastal Medical and Primary Care Partners. They are showing just terrific results, as they are changing the way they deliver care. They can do so because we have changed the way they can be reimbursed for care. That Rhode Island snapshot is part of a larger story of success.…2 sources2019govinfo.gov
This is more proof that OLC has lost all credibility and should be abolished.
I think it's super important that we win that seat so that we can put an end to the wild cost increases and rampant corruption that the Senate right now is indulging.
The fight against climate change will not succeed without carbon removal. Our bill would invest in promising carbon removal technologies and help put the planet on a pathway to climate safety.
Can you believe the guy, or did he and Trump announce the $1.9bn Trump justice fund in a month, and now we’re back where we started?
Voting for this guy today gives their blessing to the screw-up, the botched release that even Pam Bondi pointed at Blanche as responsible for.
It’s fair to put a windfall profits tax on inordinate windfall profits rather than cut off children’s food programs.
We cracked $4 again per gallon last weekend in gas stations that I drove by, and that’s a big expense, particularly for families that get their income from driving around from job to job in the work van or the work truck.
(F)ew presidents have done more than President Trump to damage Social Security — yet in an Orwellian twist, you are misusing official resources to heap praise on him.
Term limits and regular appointments would make the Court more representative of everyday Americans and help restore the Supreme Court to the proper independent body it was created to be.
It’s wrong that corporations can use their wealth to secretly exploit foreign tax havens while everyday Americans contribute their fair share. This common-sense legislation would shine a light on the murky world of offshore tax dodging to…
We're actually somewhat generous about letting [the oil companies] keep half of the excess profits, but we want at least half of it to go back.
The advancement of this significant package of legislation demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to maintaining and upgrading the nation’s water infrastructure.
I have received allegations that the Kennedy Center has conducted rushed renovation and maintenance work with disregard to its commitments to Congress and the federal contracting standards the Center has long applied to its own…
This is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project.
Instead of pursuing renovations tailored to the building’s actual needs, the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December.
The Department failed to respond to Congress, and instead, on May 18, 2026, announced that it had settled an unrelated IRS lawsuit with President Trump to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate alleged victims of DOJ…
The allegations against Graham Platner in the Politico story are extremely serious and I am withdrawing my support.
Although a federal judge has enjoined the slush fund, there are other plans to undermine the American justice system to pay out January 6 rioters, including those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.
We urge you to reject any efforts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to compensate January 6 rioters for their crimes and to commit to vigorously defending American taxpayers.
“The geniuses at ICE just arrested a Catholic nun, who practices as a nurse, as she was walking to church,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote in response to Sister Leticia Ugboaja's detention.
In Rhode Island and across the country, blind workers deserve the chance to pursue meaningful careers without risking their financial stability.





