A strong piece in Politico on the changing culture of the United States Senate speaks to Rhode Island's outsize clout in the chamber:

Rhode Island’s Reed stands out most, leading by his quiet example. In his 12 years, he has established an extraordinary committee base affecting domestic and defense policy; with the U.

A new reader poll at The Washington Post's political blog, The Fix, has Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Claire McCaskill tied for most underrated senator.

Yesterday, we asked Fixistas to choose the most underrated member of the U.S. Senate from a list of six options. More than 3,600(!) of you offered your opinion.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who favors a public option in the push to reform health care, tells D.C. publication The Hill that Senator Max Baucus' relatively moderate health care proposal, which includes no public option, appears ascendant.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and his centrist allies received a major boost Wednesday when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) delivered an analysis of his legislation, which does not include the public option.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will join Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a first-of-its-kind, administration-sponsored live chat on health care at 5:30 p.m. From the Huffington Post:

The White House has announced that it will hold a live chat with Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.

Sheldon Whitehouse's pronouncements on waterboarding get play on Andrew Sullivan's blog (he of Atlantic fame):

"I want my colleagues and the American public to know that measured against the information I have been able to gain access to, the story line we have been led to believe--the story line about waterboarding we have been sold--is false in every one of its dimensions.

As evidence mounts that the Bush Administration pursued torture for political ends - to elicit evidence of a tie between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda in a bid to justify the Iraq War - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is stepping up his already sharp rhetoric on harsh interrogation techniques.

A report in the Daily Beast by former NBC investigative reporter Robert Windrem says that Vice President Dick Cheney suggested waterboarding a former Hussein intelligence official who might have knowledge of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties.

Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse have recommended that President Obama name Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Peter F. Neronha the new U.S. Attorney for the state.

“Peter Neronha is a veteran prosecutor and a dedicated public servant. He is a true professional. His exemplary service in the U.

Tune into Sheldon Whitehouse's Senate subcommittee hearings on the Bush Administration's "torture memos" here. And in the meantime, here's the senator's prepared opening statement:

Winston Churchill said, “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” The truth of our country’s descent into torture is not precious, it is noxious.

Sheldon Whitehouse kicks off Senate subcomittee hearings today on the Bush-era legal memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques. But it is, oddly, Democrats finding themselves on the defensive on the issue as questions linger about what Congressional leaders - particularly Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - knew when about torture.

While the US House and Senate judiciary committees move cautiously on an independent review into the Bush-era torture memos released by the Obama administration, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is taking an increasingly aggressive posture.

The Rhode Islander's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts today announced a May 13 hearing that will be Congress' first on the memos.

Lil' Rhody may be a long way from Guantanamo, but the escalating debate over Bush-era interrogation methods is putting a big ol' spotlight on our two fair Senators.

Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed are calling for an independent commission to investigate W's adventures in waterboarding. And things could be getting a little awkward in the Senate hallways.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse appeared on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show last night to discuss the release of Bush-era Justice Department memos justifying waterboarding and other War on Terror misdeeds.

Just days after The New York Times called for the impeachment of federal judge Jay Bybee, who authored some of the memos during his time as an assistant attorney general, Whitehouse said "it is certainly possible that an impeachment inquiry is warranted."