PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is facing heat after his absence on Capitol Hill Wednesday left the US Senate one vote away from passing a joint resolution aimed at rebuking President Trump’s controversial tariff agenda.

President Donald Trump narrowly avoided a rebuke from the U.S. Senate on his tariffs due to one Democratic senator's absence. The resolution, defeated with a 49-49 tie on April 30, reflects discontent with Trump's 10% across-the-board tariffs and now-paused "retaliatory" tariffs that rattled Wall Street and contributed to a shrinking GDP as four Republicans joined with all present Democrats in supporting it.