On a brand new episode of Making the Case, I’m joined by @raskin.house.gov to unpack the Trumpster Fire blazing in DC. In this episode, we discuss KBJ’s recent SCOTUS dissents, Emil Bove’s shady nomination process, the Epstein files, and more. Tune in ⬇️
Congress Member Profile|U.S. Senator|Democrat|Rhode Island
Sheldon Whitehouse
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Voting Record — 789
Yes31%
No65%
Present0%
Not Voting4%
Party align95%
Cross-party5%
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District Map
Senate District (Statewide)
U.S. Census Bureau boundary data.
Social & Web
External Resources
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. SenatorDemocratRhode Island
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Sheldon's ATmosphere Activity
20 recent posts · 88 sponsored · 218 cosponsored
Recent ATmosphere posts, sponsorships, and cosponsorships.
The Trump Administration is filled with lawless lawyers. But don’t take our word for it.
Here’s how federal judges described them:
In 2024, the CEO of Starbucks took home $98M. The typical Starbucks worker makes less than $15,000.
If we say the average Starbucks drink is $5, the CEO could buy 19,597,000 coffees with the difference.
Trump's Big Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill gives him a tax break.
So far, Congress has been in a political stampede whipped on by Trump and his thugs, but reality and self-interest may soon dampen that.
Trump/Epstein mess bedevils them, and continuing cover-up makes things even worse. When the House has to close and flee, it’s bad.
Return from recess in the fall opens the political season and protecting their “own phony-baloney jobs” (thank you Blazing Saddles).
Families will be back-to-school shopping and noticing prices of things; noting big Trump campaign promises versus big billionaire giveaways.
Things to consider. Republicans will be headed home for August recess “public opinion bath,” (thank you Lincoln) which could well be a cold bath. 🧵
Funny that plastics people feel the need to harass folks when they already have U.S., Russia, Saudi and others in tow to do their bidding, each with a veto.
Reposted bySenator Sheldon Whitehouse
The America First geniuses managed to send hairdressers and soccer players into a gulag and *import* a triple murderer into the US. Nice work.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/w...
Reposted bySenator Sheldon Whitehouse
🚨🚨🚨 Jeffrey Epstein during a 2010 deposition:
Q. Have you ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of
18?
A: Though l'd like to answer that question, at least today l'm going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights, sir.
So maybe an actual pardon or formal act of clemency, dated out some months or years, with a condition of secrecy, would be the vehicle for closing the deal. If Maxwell starts pleading the Fifth to stuff, and a pardon later magically appears, you heard it here first.
She’d be a fool to give that up for nothing, so the deal would likely provide clemency from her 20-year prison sentence. It would look too obvious to pardon her right away, so a promise of a pardon would be better, but who would believe a Trump promise?
Still, a witness can be forced to testify even after asserting their Fifth Amendment privilege, as long as they are given immunity from any prosecution based on what they say. Courts can provide that immunity in certain instances in the interests of justice.
It might be better to get affirmative exculpatory stuff out of her, but once she starts talking, it’s hard to stop. Selectively pleading the Fifth can lead to waiving that privilege under the shield-not-sword doctrine. So best to stick to simple silence.
So the agreement he’d want would likely be that she would plead the Fifth to any questions, particularly in Trump’s personal lawsuit against the WSJ over the paper’s disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein birthday book.
Maxwell may have some recollection of their banter about the birthday page, or even of picking it up from Trump in person, any of which would indicate Trump just now lied about that. Not good for Trump to be caught in a big fat fresh Epstein lie.
At a minimum he’d want her silence. He would not want her testifying about Trump adversely, and particularly not about Trump’s lewd page in the Jeffrey Epstein birthday book, which WSJ says she assembled, and which Trump just now said is a fake.
Assume Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is visiting Jeffrey Epstein consort Ghislaine Maxwell in prison on behalf of his former criminal client Donald Trump, not on behalf of the United States or the law.
What would he want? 🧵
Trump really wants everyone to stop talking about the Epstein files.
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Voting History789 total votesExpandCollapse
Voting History
789 total votes
Recent roll calls with party-majority context so it is easier to scan how this member tends to vote.
| Date | Bill | Question | Position | Party Maj | Align? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-05 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (50-46) |
| 2026-02-04 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (50-47) |
| 2026-02-04 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (51-46) |
| 2026-02-04 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (51-47) |
| 2026-02-04 | — | Confirm nominee | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Nomination Confirmed (58-39) |
| 2026-02-03 | — | End debate | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (55-39) |
| 2026-02-03 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (51-45) |
| 2026-02-03 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (49-44) |
| 2026-02-03 | — | Confirm nominee | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Nomination Confirmed (54-40) |
| 2026-02-02 | — | End debate | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (49-40) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Final passage | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Bill Passed (71-29, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-30 | — | Motion (Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Merkley Amdt. No. 4287) | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion Rejected (47-52, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Vote on amendment | YES | YES | ✓ | Amendment Rejected (49-51, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Kill the motion | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Table Agreed to (58-42) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Kill the motion | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Table Agreed to (58-42) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Kill the motion | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Table Agreed to (67-33) |
| 2026-01-30 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | Vote on amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Amendment Rejected (32-67) |
| 2026-01-29 | H.R. 7148 (119th) | End filibuster to begin debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Rejected (45-55, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-27 | S. 3627 (119th) | End filibuster to begin debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Rejected (47-45, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-15 | H.R. 6938 (119th) | Final passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Bill Passed (82-15) |
| 2026-01-15 | H.R. 6938 (119th) | End debate | YES | YES | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (85-14, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-14 | S.J. Res. 98 (119th) | Point of Order S.J.Res. 98 | NO | NO | ✓ | Point of Order Well Taken (50-50, Vice President of the United States, voted Yea) |
| 2026-01-13 | S.J. Res. 84 (119th) | Begin consideration | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Proceed Rejected (47-52) |
| 2026-01-12 | H.R. 6938 (119th) | End filibuster to begin debate | YES | YES | ✓ | Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Agreed to (80-13, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2026-01-08 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (53-40) |
| 2026-01-08 | S.J. Res. 98 (119th) | Motion to Discharge S.J.Res. 98 | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Discharge Agreed to (52-47) |
| 2026-01-07 | S.J. Res. 86 (119th) | Begin consideration | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Proceed Rejected (43-50) |
| 2026-01-06 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (52-48) |
| 2026-01-06 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (53-47) |
| 2026-01-05 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (50-35) |
| 2025-12-18 | — | End debate | NOT_VOTING | NO | — | Cloture Motion Agreed to (51-42) |
| 2025-12-18 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (60-35) |
| 2025-12-18 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (58-36) |
| 2025-12-18 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (53-43) |
| 2025-12-18 | S. Res. 532 (119th) | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (53-43) |
| 2025-12-18 | S.J. Res. 82 (119th) | Approve resolution | YES | YES | ✓ | Joint Resolution Defeated (50-50) |
| 2025-12-17 | S. Res. 412 (119th) | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (53-47) |
| 2025-12-17 | — | Confirm nominee | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Nomination Confirmed (71-29) |
| 2025-12-17 | — | End debate | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (69-27) |
| 2025-12-17 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (67-30) |
| 2025-12-17 | — | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (67-30) |
| 2025-12-17 | S. 1071 (119th) | Accept House changes | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion Agreed to (77-20) |
| 2025-12-15 | S. 1071 (119th) | End debate | YES | YES | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (76-20, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2025-12-11 | S. 1071 (119th) | Begin consideration | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Proceed Agreed to (75-22) |
| 2025-12-11 | S. Res. 532 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Resolution Agreed to (52-47) |
| 2025-12-11 | S. 3385 (119th) | End debate | YES | YES | ✓ | Cloture Motion Rejected (51-48, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2025-12-11 | S. 3386 (119th) | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Rejected (51-48, 3/5 majority required) |
| 2025-12-10 | S. Res. 532 (119th) | End debate | NO | NO | ✓ | Cloture Motion Agreed to (51-47) |
| 2025-12-10 | S.J. Res. 82 (119th) | Begin consideration | YES | YES | ✓ | Motion to Proceed Agreed to (50-49) |
| 2025-12-09 | — | Confirm nominee | NO | NO | ✓ | Nomination Confirmed (51-46) |
Alignment stats consider only votes where a clear yes/no majority existed for the legislator's party. Cross-party marks divergence where the vote matched the opposite party majority. ↔ indicates cross-party divergence.