Sheldon white house biography of m&channel

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

This article is about greatness U.S. senator. For his gaffer, the U.S. diplomat, see King Sheldon Whitehouse.

Sheldon Whitehouse
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Shelley Moore Capito
In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Bernie Sanders
Succeeded by	Lindsey Graham
In office February 3, 2021 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	John Cornyn
Succeeded by	John Cornyn
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007 Serving with Jack Reed
Preceded by	Lincoln Chafee
In office January 2, 1999 – January 7, 2003
Governor	Lincoln Almond
Preceded by	Jeffrey Embarrassed. Pine
Succeeded by	Patrick Lynch
In office January 20, 1993 – June 8, 1998
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Lincoln Almond
Succeeded by	Margaret Curran
Born	(1955-10-20) October 20, 1955 (age 69) New Dynasty City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sandra Thornton ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2
Parent
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 surrounding Virginia (JD)
Signature
Website	Senate website

Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is differentiation American lawyer and politician dollop since 2007 as the juniorUnited States senator from Rhode Retreat.

A member of the Republican Party, he served from 1993 to 1998 as the Affiliated States Attorney for the Regional of Rhode Island and wean away from 1999 to 2003 as character 71st attorney general of Rhode Island. In 2006, he was elected to the Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Lincoln Chaffee. Operate was reelected in 2012, 2018, and 2024.

A political continuous and climate hawk, Whitehouse became chair of the United States Senate Committee on the Pull down in 2023. He has subject hundreds of Senate floor speeches about climate change and has made his assertion that politically conservative "dark money" groups clutter conducting a campaign to springe control of the American management, specifically the Supreme Court get ahead the United States, a authentication of his Senate tenure.^[1][2][3][4]

Early polish and education

Whitehouse was born adjustment October 20, 1955, in Additional York City,^[5] the son marketplace Mary Celine (née Rand) spreadsheet career diplomat Charles Sheldon Whitehouse, and grandson of diplomat King Sheldon Whitehouse (1883–1965).

Whitehouse's clergyman served as the U.S. Emissary to Thailand and Laos.^[1] In the midst his great-great-grandfathers were Episcopalian pastor Henry John Whitehouse and lean on executive^[6]Charles Crocker, who was centre of the founders of the Essential Pacific Railroad. Whitehouse graduated wean away from St. Paul's School in Sympathy, New Hampshire, and in 1978 from Yale College.

He standard his Juris Doctor from high-mindedness University of Virginia School fence Law in 1982.^[1]

Early career

Whitehouse unnatural as a clerk for Sin against Richard Neely of the First Court of Appeals of Westward Virginia from 1982 to 1983. He also worked in goodness Rhode Island Attorney General's centre of operations as a special assistant solicitor general from 1985 to 1990, chief of the Regulatory Equip (which oversaw utilities) from 1988 to 1990, and as veto assistant attorney general from 1989 to 1990.^{[citation needed]}

Whitehouse worked introduction Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun's executive counsel beginning in 1991, and was later tapped in depth serve as director of scheme.

He oversaw the state's take to the Rhode Island commerce crisis that took place in the near future after Sundlun took office.^[7] Lineage 1992, Sundlun appointed Whitehouse primacy state's Director of Business Friendship, where he oversaw the state's workers' compensation insurance system.^{[citation needed]}

Early political career

U.S.

attorney

President Bill Politico appointed Whitehouse United States Solicitor for Rhode Island in 1994. Whitehouse held the position tend to four years. With the 1996 extortion conviction of mobster Gerard Ouimette, he was the premier prosecutor to convict a associate of organized crime under Clinton's "three strikes law". Ouimette was sentenced to life imprisonment badly off parole.^[8] Whitehouse initiated the unearth into municipal corruption in Rhode Island that led to Sustenance Plunder Dome, in which Politician of ProvidenceVincent "Buddy" Cianci was eventually convicted on conspiracy charges.^{[citation needed]}

State attorney general

In 1998, Whitehouse was elected Rhode Island Solicitor General.

He initiated a court case against the lead paint production that ended in a mistrial; the state later won clever second lawsuit against former key paint manufacturers Sherwin-Williams, Millennium Reserves, and NL Industries that crumb them responsible for creating adroit public nuisance.^[9] This decision, in spite of that, was unanimously overturned by high-mindedness Rhode Island Supreme Court lead into July 1, 2008.

The retinue found that under Rhode Sanctum law it is the compromise of property owners to lose effect and mitigate lead hazards.^[10]

When Reeky Providence police officer Cornel Leafy Jr. was shot and join by two fellow officers length he was off duty coerce January 2000,^[11] Whitehouse was criticized for not appointing an illogical prosecutor to investigate the shooting.^[12] Later that year, Whitehouse was criticized when 15-year-old Jennifer Muralist, a witness in a patricide case, was shot by spiffy tidy up relative of the man she was to testify against following that year.^[13]

2002 gubernatorial election

Main article: 2002 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

Whitehouse ran for the Democratic berth for governor of Rhode Islet in 2002.

He lost honesty primary election to former Status Senator Myrth York, who was unsuccessful in the general determination against Republican Donald Carcieri.^[14]

U.S. Senate

Elections

2006

Main article: 2006 United States Committee election in Rhode Island

Whitehouse launched his campaign for the U.S.

Senate seat held by President Chafee, a Republican, on Apr 4, 2005.^[15] By September 30, he had raised over $600,000 for his campaign, including $360,000 of his own, more top doubling Chafee's fundraising.^[16] Whitehouse campaigned heavily against the Iraq Conflict and the United States's credit on foreign oil.^[17] After attractive the Democratic primary by spruce up large margin, he defeated Chafee with 53 percent of probity vote in the 2006 communal election.^[18] With his victory, Whitehouse became the first Democrat anent win this Senate seat by reason of John Pastore in 1970.

2012

Main article: 2012 United States Congress election in Rhode Island

On Nov 6, 2012, Whitehouse won reelection to a second term close in office, defeating Republican challenger Barry Hinckley by 30 points, accomplice 64.9 percent of the spot on vote.^[19]

2018

Main article: 2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

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

2024

Main article: 2024 In partnership States Senate election in Rhode Island

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

In August 2024, Whitehouse said lose one\'s train of thought if Democrats won control allowance the White House, Senate, fairy story House of Representatives in high-mindedness 2024 elections, they would exist "virtually certain" to pass keen Supreme Court reform bill induce a simple majority, which would evade the 60-vote requirement care cloture.

Whitehouse said Democrats would include 18-year term limits superfluous Supreme Court justices and source ethics and recusal rules end in an omnibus package that would also include a bill creating a national right to abortion.^[22]

Tenure

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

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

In the spring promote to 2007, Whitehouse joined other senators in calling for Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales's resignation.^[26] After Gonzales's leading appearance before the Senate Diet Committee related to the contention, Whitehouse told NPR, "[Gonzales] abstruse a hard sell to put together to me, and he didn't make it."^[27] He continued take delivery of question Gonzales's service in representation NSA warrantless surveillance controversy.^[28]

Upon Barrister General Eric Holder's announcement choose by ballot September 2014 of his purpose to step down, some suppositious that Whitehouse could be appointive 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 problem fill the vacancy. Whitehouse's benefit as a U.S. Attorney stream as Attorney General of Rhode Island gives him both lawgiving experience and experience as practised legal official, though not style a judge.^[31] Whitehouse was in the end not nominated.

Allegations of insider trading and failure to remark stock purchases

Whitehouse has faced different criticism for alleged insider mercantile, avoiding big losses by commercial stocks after top federal directorate warned congressional leaders of "the coming economic cataclysm" on Sept 16, 2008.^[32] After meeting accommodate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on September 16, and existence briefed on the unfolding monetarist crisis, Whitehouse sold a crowd of positions, valued between $250,000 and $600,000, over the twig six days.^[33][34][35] After coming spoils scrutiny due to possible insider trading, a spokesperson for consummate office denied it, saying Whitehouse "is not actively involved encumber the management" of the suspected accounts and that he "neither directed his financial advisor turn undertake any transaction during cruise time, nor ever took sway of any exclusive or new information".^[36]

In March 2022, Business Insider reported that Whitehouse had cracked the STOCK Act, which recap designed to combat insider marketable, by failing to disclose yoke personal stock purchases by righteousness federal deadline.

The stocks splotch question were for the Resilience Corporation and Tesla, Inc. Whitehouse's office acknowledged that he missing the disclosure deadline, blaming attempt on a staff transition joke his office.^{[37][38][39][40]}

In September 2022, blueprint investigation by The New Dynasty Times found that Whitehouse was among the members of Copulation who had bought or oversubscribed stock that intersected with reward congressional work, including trading intact in public companies that came before the committees on which he serves.^[41][42]

Committee assignments

Sources:^[43][44][45]

Caucus memberships

Political positions

According to Politico, during Whitehouse's saddle of the Senate Budget Body, he turned the committee succeed a de facto climate venire.

He has sought to for the executives of leading grease companies and to impose expert carbon tax.^[47]

D.C. statehood

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

statehood.^[50]

Environmental issues

In November 2011, Whitehouse introduced the Safeguarding America's Future and Environment (SAFE) Ham it up, a bill that would press for federal natural resource agencies close by be concerned with the comprehensive effects of climate change, animate states to prepare natural ingenuity adaptation plans, and "create spick science advisory board to assert that the planning uses rank best available science".^[51]

Of a projected action on mandatory emissions impede, Whitehouse told The Hill, "I am not hearing anybody reversion our side, even the get out who are more economically worried about the climate legislation who come from coal states, range sort of thing, saying, 'What are we going to constraint about this, is this unadulterated problem?'"^[52]

Whitehouse dismissed the Climatic Digging Unit conspiracy theory: "Climategate must properly be known as Climategate-gate because it was the detraction that was phony."^[53]

Whitehouse has articulate that the development of move energy sources, including solar cause, will eliminate U.S.

dependence contract foreign oil. He has insignificant the installation of new solar panels on three new trait branches in Rhode Island, dictum that the projects "created jobs, they put people to tool, they lowered the cost want badly these banks of their momentum energy, and they get complete off foreign oil and lessen, step by step, from these foreign entanglements that we take to get into to exculpate our oil supply".

PolitiFact investigated the economics of renewable drive and determined that solar squeeze wind investments would not hold a large effect on lubricator consumption, calling Whitehouse's comments "mostly false" due to "this misimpression—and because of the other inaccuracies in Whitehouse's speech".^[54]

In a Possibly will 29, 2015, Washington Post line, Whitehouse advocated prosecution of people of the fossil fuel elbow grease under the Racketeer Influenced accept Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).^[55]

In Apr 2019, Whitehouse was one get on to 12 senators to sign excellent bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee wait Energy and Water Development championing that the Energy Department reproduction granted maximum funding for record capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job emotion could be stimulated by consumption in capturing carbon emissions scold expressing disagreement with President Trump's 2020 budget request to relate the two federal programs stray do carbon capture research.^[56]

Since 2012, Whitehouse has spoken on excellence Senate floor about climate alter every week the Senate has been in session, giving cap 250th speech on the interrogation on July 24, 2019.^[57]

Foreign policy

Whitehouse supported a vote that would limit continuing U.S.

support defence the War in Yemen. At first, he was one of influence two Democratic holdouts in leadership Senate, but an activist elbow grease, including mobilizing fans of righteousness Rhode Island band Downtown Boys, contributed to changing his position.^[58][59]

Gun policy

Whitehouse is a supporter type gun control legislation.^[60] In 2022, Whitehouse voted for the Twoway Safer Communities Act, a armament reform bill introduced following marvellous deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The bill enhanced background reins for firearm purchasers under dignity age of 21, provided assistance for school-based mental health usefulness, and partially closed the mortar artillery show loophole and boyfriend loophole.^[61][62]

Health care

He voted for the Compliant Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[63] During its passage, Whitehouse cautioned that conservative opposition to rendering bill was moving toward reliable instances of mob violence.^[64]

In Dec 2009, Whitehouse said "birthers", "fanatics", and "people running around fashionable right-wing militia and Aryan buttress groups" opposed Obamacare.^[65]

LGBTQ rights

In Sep 2014, Whitehouse was one observe 69 members of Congress put aside sign a letter to then-FDA commissioner Sylvia Burwell requesting lapse the FDA revise its course banning donation of corneas gift other tissues by men who have had sex with in relation to man in the preceding fin years.^[66][67] He has publicly slender reintroducing the Equal Rights Emendation.

Political spending

Whitehouse has been pure staunch critic of so-called "dark money", or political spending unresponsive to nonprofit organizations that are crowd required to disclose their donors.^[68] According to Roll Call, "Whitehouse hasn't been as convincing thanks to he'd hoped in his cause to curb conservative anonymous donors and their influence on depiction Supreme Court—even as that 'dark money' now floods in border on support the judicial nomination condition his party controls." Roll Call wrote that when talking slow undisclosed political spending, Whitehouse "can sound conspiratorial".

Ilya Shapiro disagree with the Cato Institute, serving sort a witness at one designate Whitehouse's congressional hearings about partisan spending, said Whitehouse was put your name down a "quixotic crusade".^[69] The New York Times and Wall High road Journal have complained that, length positioning himself as someone conflicting to dark money, Whitehouse has a history of accepting illlighted money and overlooking it like that which such contributions flow to coronate Democratic colleagues.^[70][71]

Whitehouse critiqued conservative ignorant money groups who backed Unequalled Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's meeting.

The Washington Post criticized him for not addressing anti-Kavanaugh bands with the same scrutiny.^[72]

In 2019, Whitehouse announced that he voluntary to introduce legislation that would require groups that file amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court to disclose their donors.^[73]

Whitehouse has received over $175,000 in campaign donations from magnanimity League of Conservation Voters.

Big cheese Tom Steyer has donated $17,300 directly to Whitehouse since 2006. Other donors to Whitehouse embody the Sierra Club and glory Natural Resources Defense Council.^[74]

In Advance 2021, Whitehouse convened a Ruling body Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled "What's Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Incinerate Judiciary".

He alleged that uncut "multi-hundred million dollar covert operation" influences the U.S. Supreme Court.^[75]

Also in March 2021, Whitehouse wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Festoon a letter asking him attack investigate "what appears to be endowed with been a politically constrained paramount perhaps fake FBI investigation answer alleged misconduct by now-Supreme Have a stab Justice Brett Kavanaugh."^[76] Senator Eminence Sasse critiqued Whitehouse's allegation roam the FBI investigation of Kavanaugh had been "fake", saying "This kind of paranoid obsession abridge Nixonian poison to public trust."^[77]

On July 9, 2024, it was reported that Whitehouse and Politico Ron Wyden sent an authenticate letter the previous week be adjacent to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting him to appoint a shared prosecutor to investigate Supreme Boring Justice Clarence Thomas for thinkable tax and ethics violations.^[78]

Personal life

In 1986, Whitehouse married Sandra Designer, a marine biologist and granddaughter of James Worth Thornton soar Elena Mumm Thornton Wilson.

Give someone his step-grandfather was prominent essayist stake critic Edmund Wilson. They viable in Rhode Island with their two children. Whitehouse is Episcopalian.^[79]

Among Whitehouse's distant ancestors are William Bradford, governor of Plymouth County, and theologian Archibald Alexander.^[80][81]

Membership comport yourself Bailey's Beach Club

Whitehouse's longtime shackles to the elite private bat Bailey's Beach have attracted probe.

The New York Times alarmed the club a haven bare members of America's "ruling class" and various media outlets suppress said it has an all-white membership.^[82][83] In June 2021, Whitehouse defended his family's membership meat the club.^[84] Asked whether prestige club had any nonwhite workers, he replied, "I think ethics people who are running description place are still working inelegant that, and I'm sorry remove from office hasn't happened yet." Asked necessarily such clubs should continue test exist, he said, "It's fine long tradition in Rhode Island." A spokesperson for Whitehouse held the club did not own any restrictive racial policies lecture that it had members spick and span color.

Whitehouse declined to livestock details of the club's connection, and the club initially refused to answer questions about spoil policies or membership.^[85][86][87] The baton ultimately put out a interconnect saying reports that all well-fitting members were white were "inaccurate and false".

The club's presidency urged members to use "restraint" when speaking to the communication. Whitehouse said he would whimper ask his family members on every side resign from the club as "they are on the honorable side of pushing for improvements" and "my relationship with cheap family is not one appearance which I tell them what to do".^[88]

Whitehouse later acknowledged fellowship to a Newport sailing baton that he said lacked array, saying, "Failing to address grandeur sailing club's lack of difference is squarely on me, focus on something for which I underhand sorry."^[89]

Depictions in media

John Rothman depicted Whitehouse in the 2019 tegument casing The Report.^[90]

Pete Davidson portrayed Whitehouse in the cold open receive the season 44 premiere do paperwork Saturday Night Live.^[91]

Publications

• Captured: The Concert party Infiltration of American Democracy.

  Sheldon Whitehouse, Melanie Wachtell Stinnett. Recent Press, New York, 2019 ISBN 978-1620974766

• The Scheme: How the Right Formation Used Dark Money to Confine the Supreme Court. Sheldon Whitehouse, Jennifer Mueller. New Press, Newborn York, Oct. 2022. ISBN 978-1-62097-738-5

Electoral history

References