Sheldon Whitehouse

Last updated

Sandra Thornton
​
(m. 1986)​
Sheldon Whitehouse
Sheldon Whitehouse, official portrait, 116th congress.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
United States Senator
from Rhode Island
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2007
Servingwith Jack Reed
Children2
Parent Charles S. Whitehouse
Relatives Crocker family
Rufus Rand (grandfather)
Edwin Sheldon Whitehouse (grandfather)
Henry John Whitehouse (great-great-grandfather)
Tobias Mealey (great-great-grandfather)
Education Yale University (BA)
University of Virginia (JD)
Signature Sheldon Whitehouse Signature.svg
Website Senate website
Sheldon Whitehouse's voice
Sheldon Whitehouse questions witnesses on Guantanamo Bay detainees and torture during the War on Terror
Recorded December 7, 2021

Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1993 to 1998 and as the 71st attorney general of Rhode Island from 1999 to 2003. In 2006, he won his first term to the Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Lincoln Chaffee. Whitehouse was reelected in 2012, 2018, and 2024.

Contents

A political progressive and climate hawk, Whitehouse became chair of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget in 2023. He has given hundreds of Senate floor speeches about climate change and has made his assertion that politically conservative "dark money" groups are conducting a campaign to seize control of the American government, specifically the Supreme Court of the United States, a hallmark of his Senate tenure. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Early life and education

Whitehouse was born on October 20, 1955, in New York City, [5] the son of Mary Celine (née Rand) and career diplomat Charles Sheldon Whitehouse, and grandson of diplomat Edwin Sheldon Whitehouse (1883–1965). Whitehouse's father served as the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand and Laos. [1] Among his great-great-grandfathers were Episcopalian bishop Henry John Whitehouse and railroad robber baron [6] Charles Crocker, who was among the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad. Whitehouse graduated from St. Paul's School, an elite boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire, and from Yale College in 1978. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982. [1]

Early career

Whitehouse worked as a clerk for Justice Richard Neely of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from 1982 to 1983. He also worked in the Rhode Island Attorney General's office as a special assistant attorney general from 1985 to 1990, chief of the Regulatory Unit (which oversaw utilities) from 1988 to 1990, and as an assistant attorney general from 1989 to 1990.[ citation needed ]

Whitehouse worked as Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun's executive counsel beginning in 1991, and was later tapped to serve as director of policy. He oversaw the state's response to the Rhode Island banking crisis that took place soon after Sundlun took office. [7] In 1992, Sundlun appointed Whitehouse the state's Director of Business Regulation, where he oversaw the state's workers' compensation insurance system.[ citation needed ]

Early political career

U.S. attorney

President Bill Clinton appointed Whitehouse United States Attorney for Rhode Island in 1994. Whitehouse held the position for four years. With the 1996 extortion conviction of mobster Gerard Ouimette, he was the first prosecutor to convict a member of organized crime under Clinton's "three strikes law". Ouimette was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. [8] Whitehouse initiated the investigation into municipal corruption in Rhode Island that led to Operation Plunder Dome, in which Mayor of Providence Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was eventually convicted on conspiracy charges.[ citation needed ]

State attorney general

In 1998, Whitehouse was elected Rhode Island Attorney General. He initiated a lawsuit against the lead paint industry that ended in a mistrial; the state later won a second lawsuit against former lead paint manufacturers Sherwin-Williams, Millennium Holdings, and NL Industries that found them responsible for creating a public nuisance. [9] This decision, however, was unanimously overturned by the Rhode Island Supreme Court on July 1, 2008. The court found that under Rhode Island law it is the responsibility of property owners to abate and mitigate lead hazards. [10]

When Black Providence police officer Cornel Young Jr. was shot and killed by two fellow officers while he was off duty in January 2000, [11] Whitehouse was criticized for not appointing an independent prosecutor to investigate the shooting. [12] Later that year, Whitehouse was criticized when 15-year-old Jennifer Rivera, a witness in a murder case, was shot by a relative of the man she was to testify against later that year. [13]

2002 gubernatorial election

Whitehouse ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island in 2002. He lost the primary election to former State Senator Myrth York, who was unsuccessful in the general election against Republican Donald Carcieri. [14]

U.S. Senate

Whitehouse speaking in 2008 Sheldon Whitehouse Senator from Rhode Island.jpg
Whitehouse speaking in 2008

Elections

2006

Whitehouse launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Lincoln Chafee, a Republican, on April 4, 2005. [15] By September 30, he had raised over $600,000 for his campaign, including $360,000 of his own, more than doubling Chafee's fundraising. [16] Whitehouse campaigned heavily against the Iraq War and the United States's dependence on foreign oil. [17] After winning the Democratic primary by a large margin, he defeated Chafee with 53 percent of the vote in the 2006 general election. [18] With his victory, Whitehouse became the first Democrat to win this Senate seat since John Pastore in 1970.

2012

On November 6, 2012, Whitehouse won reelection to a second term in office, defeating Republican challenger Barry Hinckley by 30 points, with 64.9 percent of the total vote. [19]

2018

On November 6, 2018, Whitehouse was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican Robert Flanders by 23 points. [20]

2024

Whitehouse is running for a fourth Senate term in 2024. [21]

In August 2024, Whitehouse said that if Democrats won control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives in the 2024 elections, they would be "virtually certain" to pass a Supreme Court reform bill by a simple majority, which would evade the 60-vote requirement for cloture. Whitehouse said Democrats would include 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and establish ethics and recusal rules in an omnibus package that would also include a bill creating a national right to abortion. [22]

Tenure

Whitehouse during the Munich Security Conference 2018 Sheldon Whitehouse MSC 2018 (cropped).jpg
Whitehouse during the Munich Security Conference 2018

In 2007, the National Journal ranked Whitehouse the second-most liberal senator. [23]

He voted to confirm Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. [24] [25]

In the spring of 2007, Whitehouse joined other senators in calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's resignation. [26] After Gonzales's first appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee related to the controversy, Whitehouse told NPR, "[Gonzales] had a hard sell to make to me, and he didn't make it." [27] He continued to question Gonzales's service in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy. [28]

Upon Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement in September 2014 of his intention to step down, some speculated that Whitehouse could be nominated as Holder's replacement. [29] [30]

In February 2016, after the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, USA Today named Whitehouse as a possible nominee to fill the vacancy. Whitehouse's service as a U.S. Attorney and as Attorney General of Rhode Island gives him both legislative experience and experience as a legal official, though not as a judge. [31] Whitehouse was ultimately not nominated.

Allegations of insider trading and failure to disclose stock purchases

Whitehouse has faced some criticism for alleged insider trading, avoiding big losses by trading stocks after top federal officials warned congressional leaders of "the coming economic cataclysm" on September 16, 2008. [32] After meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on September 16, and being briefed on the unfolding financial crisis, Whitehouse sold a number of positions, valued between $250,000 and $600,000, over the next six days. [33] [34] [35] After coming under scrutiny due to possible insider trading, a spokesperson for his office denied it, saying Whitehouse "is not actively involved in the management" of the implicated accounts and that he "neither directed his financial advisor to undertake any transaction during that time, nor ever took advantage of any exclusive or secret information". [36]

In March 2022, Business Insider reported that Whitehouse had violated the STOCK Act, which is designed to combat insider trading, by failing to disclose two personal stock purchases by the federal deadline. The stocks in question were for the Target Corporation and Tesla, Inc. Whitehouse's office acknowledged that he missed the disclosure deadline, blaming it on a staff transition in his office. [37] [38] [39] [40]

In September 2022, an investigation by The New York Times found that Whitehouse was among the members of Congress who had bought or sold stock that intersected with his congressional work, including trading stock in public companies that came before the committees on which he serves. [41] [42]

Committee assignments

Sources: [43] [44] [45]

Caucus memberships

Political positions

D.C. statehood

In a 2018 interview with the Providence Journal , Whitehouse expressed opposition to D.C. statehood. He was dismissive of efforts to give District residents representation in Congress, suggesting they should be satisfied with the amount of federal activity nearby. [47] [48] In July 2020, he cosponsored a Senate bill to grant D.C. statehood. [49]

Environmental issues

In November 2011, Whitehouse introduced the Safeguarding America's Future and Environment (SAFE) Act, a bill that would require federal natural resource agencies to be concerned with the long-term effects of climate change, encourage states to prepare natural resource adaptation plans, and "create a science advisory board to ensure that the planning uses the best available science". [50]

Of a proposed action on mandatory emissions curbs, Whitehouse told The Hill, "I am not hearing anybody on our side, even the people who are more economically concerned about the climate legislation who come from coal states, that sort of thing, saying, 'What are we going to say about this, is this a problem?'" [51]

Whitehouse dismissed the Climatic Research Unit conspiracy theory: "Climategate should properly be known as Climategate-gate because it was the scandal that was phony." [52]

Whitehouse has said that the development of alternate energy sources, including solar power, will eliminate U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He has cited the installation of new solar panels on three new bank branches in Rhode Island, saying that the projects "created jobs, they put people to work, they lowered the cost for these banks of their electrical energy, and they get us off foreign oil and away, step by step, from these foreign entanglements that we have to get into to defend our oil supply". PolitiFact investigated the economics of renewable energy and determined that solar and wind investments would not have a large effect on oil consumption, calling Whitehouse's comments "mostly false" due to "this misimpression—and because of the other inaccuracies in Whitehouse's speech". [53]

In a May 29, 2015, Washington Post editorial, Whitehouse advocated prosecution of members of the fossil fuel industry under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). [54]

In April 2019, Whitehouse was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in capturing carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with President Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that do carbon capture research. [55]

Since 2012, Whitehouse has spoken on the Senate floor about climate change every week the Senate has been in session, giving his 250th speech on the issue on July 24, 2019. [56]

Whitehouse was a member of the Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, which published a report of its findings in August 2020. [57]

In February 2023, Whitehouse, along with Senator Bill Cassidy (R‑LA), introduced the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, which aims to share federal offshore wind power revenue with states for coastal protection and restoration work. The bill was also introduced in the House. [58] [59]

Foreign policy

Whitehouse supported a vote that would limit continuing U.S. support for the War in Yemen. Initially, he was one of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, but an activist effort, including mobilizing fans of the Rhode Island band Downtown Boys, contributed to changing his position. [60] [61]

Gun policy

Whitehouse is a supporter of gun control legislation. [62] In 2022, Whitehouse voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a gun reform bill introduced following a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The bill enhanced background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, provided funding for school-based mental health services, and partially closed the gun show loophole and boyfriend loophole. [63] [64]

Health care

He voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. [65] During its passage, Whitehouse cautioned that conservative opposition to the bill was moving toward historical instances of mob violence. [66]

In December 2009, Whitehouse said "birthers", "fanatics", and "people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups" opposed Obamacare. [67]

LGBTQ rights

In September 2014, Whitehouse was one of 69 members of Congress to sign a letter to then-FDA commissioner Sylvia Burwell requesting that the FDA revise its policy banning donation of corneas and other tissues by men who have had sex with another man in the preceding five years. [68] [69] He has publicly supported reintroducing the Equal Rights Amendment.

Political spending

Whitehouse has been a staunch critic of so-called "dark money", or political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. [70] According to Roll Call , "Whitehouse hasn't been as convincing as he'd hoped in his campaign to curb conservative anonymous donors and their influence on the Supreme Court—even as that 'dark money' now floods in to support the judicial nomination process his party controls." Roll Call wrote that when talking about undisclosed political spending, Whitehouse "can sound conspiratorial". Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute, serving as a witness at one of Whitehouse's congressional hearings about political spending, said Whitehouse was on a "quixotic crusade". [71] The New York Times and Wall Street Journal have complained that, while positioning himself as someone opposed to dark money, Whitehouse has a history of accepting dark money and overlooking it when such contributions flow to his Democratic colleagues. [72] [73]

Whitehouse critiqued conservative dark money groups who backed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. The Washington Post criticized him for not addressing anti-Kavanaugh groups with the same scrutiny. [74]

In 2019, Whitehouse announced that he intended to introduce legislation that would require groups that file amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court to disclose their donors. [75]

Whitehouse has received over $175,000 in campaign donations from the League of Conservation Voters. Billionaire Tom Steyer has donated $17,300 directly to Whitehouse since 2006. Other donors to Whitehouse include the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council. [76]

In March 2021, Whitehouse convened a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled "What's Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Our Judiciary". He alleged that a "multi-hundred million dollar covert operation" influences the U.S. Supreme Court. [77]

Also in March 2021, Whitehouse wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter asking him to investigate "what appears to have been a politically constrained and perhaps fake FBI investigation into alleged misconduct by now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh." [78] Senator Ben Sasse critiqued Whitehouse's allegation that the FBI investigation of Kavanaugh had been "fake", saying "This kind of paranoid obsession is Nixonian poison to public trust." [79]

On July 9, 2024, it was reported that Whitehouse and Senator Ron Wyden sent a official letter the previous week to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting him to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for possible tax and ethics violations. [80]

Personal life

In 1986, Whitehouse married Sandra Thornton, a marine biologist and granddaughter of James Worth Thornton and Elena Mumm Thornton Wilson. Her step-grandfather was prominent essayist and critic Edmund Wilson. They live in Rhode Island with their two children. Whitehouse is Episcopalian. [81]

Among Whitehouse's distant ancestors are William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony, and theologian Archibald Alexander. [82] [83]

Membership in Bailey's Beach Club

Whitehouse's longtime ties to the elite private club Bailey's Beach have attracted scrutiny. The New York Times called the club a haven for members of America's "ruling class" and various media outlets have said it has an all-white membership. [84] [85] In June 2021, Whitehouse defended his family's membership in the club. [86] Asked whether the club had any nonwhite members, he replied, "I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I'm sorry it hasn't happened yet." Asked whether such clubs should continue to exist, he said, "It's a long tradition in Rhode Island." A spokesperson for Whitehouse said the club did not have any restrictive racial policies and that it had members of color. Whitehouse declined to provide details of the club's membership, and the club initially refused to answer questions about its policies or membership. [87] [88] [89] The club ultimately put out a statement saying reports that all its members were white were "inaccurate and false". The club's president urged members to use "restraint" when speaking to the media. Whitehouse said he would not ask his family members to resign from the club because "they are on the right side of pushing for improvements" and "my relationship with my family is not one in which I tell them what to do". [90]

Whitehouse later acknowledged belonging to a Newport sailing club that he said lacked diversity, saying, "Failing to address the sailing club's lack of diversity is squarely on me, and something for which I am sorry." [91]

Depictions in media

John Rothman portrayed Whitehouse in the 2019 film The Report. [92]

Pete Davidson portrayed Whitehouse in the cold open of the season 44 premiere of Saturday Night Live . [93]

Publications

Electoral history

Rhode Island gubernatorial Democratic primary results, 2002 [94]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Myrth York 46,806 39.16
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse45,88038.39
Democratic Antonio J. Pires26,83822.45
Total votes119,524 100.00
United States Senate Democratic primary results, 2006 [94]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse 69,290 81.53
Democratic Christopher F. Young8,93910.52
Democratic Carl Sheeler6,7557.95
Total votes84,984 100.00
United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2006 [95]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse 206,043 53.52% +12.37%
Republican Lincoln Chafee (incumbent)178,95046.48%−10.40%
Majority27,0937.04%−8.69%
Turnout 384,993
Democratic gain from Republican Swing
Democratic primary results, 2012
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 60,223 100
Total votes60,223 100
United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2012 [96]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 271,034 64.81% +11.29%
Republican Barry Hinckley146,22234.97%−11.51%
n/a Write-ins9330.22%N/A
Total votes418,189100.0%N/A
Democratic hold
Democratic primary results, Rhode Island 2018 [97]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 89,140 76.79%
Democratic Patricia J. Fontes26,94723.21%
Total votes116,087 100%
United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2018 [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 231,477 61.45% −3.36%
Republican Robert Flanders144,42138.33%+3.36%
Write-in 8400.22%N/A
Total votes376,738100%N/A
Democratic hold

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  39. ↑ Fenton, Josh (March 21, 2022). "Whitehouse Violated Conflict-of-Interest Law with 2 Late Stock Purchase Disclosures, Says Report". GoLocalProv. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  40. ↑ Levinthal, Dave; Hall, Madison (January 3, 2023). "78 members of Congress have violated a law designed to prevent insider trading and stop conflicts-of-interest". Business Insider. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  41. ↑ Parlapiano, Alicia; Playford, Adam; Kelly, Kate; Uz, Ege (September 13, 2022). "These 97 Members of Congress Reported Trades in Companies Influenced by Their Committees". The New York Times.
  42. ↑ Fenton, Josh. "NYT Investigation Finds Whitehouse Traded Stock in Companies in Which He Had Oversight". GoLocalProv. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  43. ↑ Committee Assignments Archived April 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine United States Senate. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  44. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee membership Archived June 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine United States Senate Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  45. ↑ Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Subcommittee membership Archived June 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine United States Senate Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  46. ↑ "Members". Afterschool Alliance. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  47. ↑ Gregg, Katherine (October 21, 2018). "Political Scene: Candidates weigh in on gambling, recession, Fane tower". The Providence Journal . Providence RI. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  48. ↑ Ford, Matt (October 26, 2018). "Sheldon Whitehouse's Frustrating, Illogical Remarks on D.C. Statehood". The Providence Journal . Providence RI. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  49. ↑ Carper, Thomas R. (February 28, 2019). "Cosponsors – S.631 – 116th Congress (2019–2020): Washington, D.C. Admission Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  50. ↑ Johnson, Brad (November 17, 2011). "Climate Hawk Sheldon Whitehouse Introduces Climate Resilience Legislation". ThinkProgress . Archived from the original on March 23, 2012.
  51. ↑ "'Climategate' hasn't swayed swing votes on climate change bill". The Hill . Archived from the original on December 9, 2009.
  52. ↑ Johnson, Brad (December 15, 2011). "Climate Hawks Whitehouse And Franken Hold Climate Crisis Colloquy". ThinkProgress . Archived from the original on May 6, 2015.
  53. ↑ Kuffner, Alex (January 8, 2012). "U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says that the development of solar power and other forms of renewable energy will "get us off" foreign oil". PolitiFact . Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  54. ↑ Whitehouse, Sheldon (May 29, 2015). "The fossil-fuel industry's campaign to mislead the American people". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  55. ↑ Green, Miranda (April 5, 2019). "Bipartisan senators want 'highest possible' funding for carbon capture technology". The Hill . Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  56. ↑ "Senator Sheldon Whitehouse 250th Speech on Climate Change". C-Span . July 24, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  57. ↑ "Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis | Senate Democratic Leadership". www.democrats.senate.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  58. ↑ "Cassidy, Whitehouse Reintroduce Bill to Strengthen Revenue Sharing Program" (Press release). February 9, 2024.
  59. ↑ "Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Reintroduces Bipartisan Legislation To Strengthen Coastal Revenue Sharing Program" (Press release). February 9, 2024.
  60. ↑ Ford, Matt (October 26, 2018). "Senator Announces Support for Ending US Action in Yemen". U.S. News & World Report . Washington DC. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  61. ↑ Kampf-Lassin, Miles; Lazare, Sarah (November 28, 2018). "The Senate Just Took the Biggest Step Yet Toward Ending U.S. Support for the Yemen War". In These Times . Providence RI. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  62. ↑ "Whitehouse denounces defeat of gun-control measures" . Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  63. ↑ DeBonis, Mike (June 25, 2022). "How the Senate defied 26 years of inaction to tackle gun violence".
  64. ↑ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  65. ↑ "The U.S. Congress Votes Database". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  66. ↑ Milbank, Dana (December 21, 2009). "An ugly finale for health-care reform". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  67. ↑ Picket, Kerry (December 20, 2009). "Sen. Whitehouse: Foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups". The Washington Times . Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  68. ↑ "Letter for Secretary Burwell from many US senators" (PDF). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  69. ↑ "Tissue Guidances". FDA. Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. December 4, 2020. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008 – via www.fda.gov.
  70. ↑ Parks, Dan (May 3, 2022). "Nonprofits likely under fire as Senate explores 'dark money'". AP News. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  71. ↑ Scully, Megan (June 23, 2021). "Whitehouse bolsters push to shine light on 'dark money' at Supreme Court". Roll Call. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  72. ↑ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane (January 29, 2022). "Democrats Decried Dark Money. Then They Won With It in 2020". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  73. ↑ "Sheldon Whitehouse Goes Dark". Wall Street Journal. September 22, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  74. ↑ "Who is paying for the next Supreme Court justice?". Washington Post. July 15, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  75. ↑ Ruger, Todd (January 30, 2019). "Sheldon Whitehouse takes aim at funding disclosure for court briefs". Roll Call. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  76. ↑ Donnis, Ian (April 23, 2019). "Whitehouse Blames 'Dark Money' For Why He Raised So Much For '18 Campaign". TPR: The Public's Radio. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  77. ↑ Golde, Kalvis (March 11, 2021). "Senate Judiciary holds hearing on 'dark money' and Supreme Court". SCOTUSblog . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  78. ↑ Silverstein, Jason (March 16, 2021). "Senator alleges FBI's Brett Kavanaugh investigation may have been 'fake'". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  79. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Edward (March 18, 2021). "Senator Whitehouse draws fire in questioning FBI's Kavanaugh probe, dark money". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  80. ↑ Sforza, Lauren (July 9, 2024). "Dem senators ask DOJ to investigate Clarence Thomas for tax law violations". The Hill. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  81. ↑ "Religious Affiliation of Members of 117th Congress" (PDF).
  82. ↑ "Coming Soon". Jacpac.org. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  83. ↑ "Sheldon Whitehouse ancestry". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  84. ↑ "U.S. Senator Whitehouse Won't Quit All-White Exclusive Private Club". GoLocalProv. August 31, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  85. ↑ Stableford, Dylan (June 21, 2021). "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse defends membership in exclusive beach club: 'A long tradition in Rhode Island'". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  86. ↑ Sonmez, Felicia (June 22, 2021). "Sen. Whitehouse defends family's membership in private beach club amid questions about whether it is all-White". Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  87. ↑ Serfaty, Sunlen; Schlegel, Chandler (June 22, 2021). "Rhode Island Democratic senator faces questions over private beach club membership". CNN. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  88. ↑ Wu, Nicholas (June 21, 2021). "Whitehouse defends affiliation with elite Rhode Island club". Politico. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  89. ↑ Scott, Eugene; Sonmez, Felicia (June 22, 2021). "Black leaders in Rhode Island divided over Sen. Whitehouse's family ties to exclusive club". Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  90. ↑ Swanson, Ian (June 27, 2021). "The weird story behind Sheldon Whitehouse's beach club furor". TheHill. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  91. ↑ Nobles, Ryan; Cole, Devan (June 23, 2021). "Whitehouse defends family's beach club ties but apologizes for 'lack of diversity' at sailing club". CNN. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
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Legal offices
Preceded by United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island
1993–1998		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General of Rhode Island
1999–2003		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Sara M. Quinn
 Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Rhode Island
1998		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
(Class 1)
2006, 2012, 2018, 2024 		Most recent
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island
2007–present
Served alongside: Jack Reed 		Incumbent
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Narcotics Caucus
2021–present
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2023–present
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as United States Senator		Succeeded by
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