Whitehouse Misses Key Vote on Tariffs While Attending Conference in South Korea

Whitehouse Misses Key Vote on Tariffs While Attending Conference in South Korea

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse would have been the deciding vote.

 

Whitehouse (D-RI) was missing from the vote opposing President Trump’s tariff policies, leaving supporters of the resolution one vote short of a majority.

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Despite three Republicans voting with the Democrats, the resolution failed in a 49-49 tie.

 

Three Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the tariffs: Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

 

Whitehouse was absent because he was returning from a conference in South Korea.

 

A prolific tweeter, Whitehouse did not address missing the vote on X. But he did post, "Headed back from the 10th Our Ocean Conference, where I was the sole US official."

 

The U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of 2025, as businesses rushed to stock up on imports ahead of new tariffs and consumers slowed their spending pace.

 

“The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced across the economy—fell at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted 0.3% annual rate in the first quarter. That was the steepest decline since the first quarter of 2022. The decline in GDP in the first quarter reflected front-running ahead of tariffs that began to come into effect during the first three months of the year and were dramatically increased in the current, second quarter. Imports rose at a 41.3% pace. Exports rose more slowly, at a 1.8% pace in the first quarter,” reported the Wall Street Journal.

 

Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was also absent from the vote.