Another wild week on Capitol Hill!
Although none of the ongoing drama over incoming Cabinet secretaries involved the Nevada delegation, all the focus on January is warranted. But we still have three weeks of session time to go between now and then — and, as the last chance for any bills introduced in the past two years to pass, you can bet that Nevada’s senators have a wish list of items they’d like to see get a floor vote.
What’s realistic? Not a whole lot. Let’s get into it.
The News of the Week: Lame duck priorities
Senate Democrats’ focus for the next three weeks? Judges, judges, judges. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has vowed to use his remaining time controlling the floor to fill judicial vacancies, adding to the 220 that the upper chamber has confirmed through Joe Biden’s presidency.
Senate Republicans are throwing roadblocks in their way — forcing full roll calls to proceed with votes, for example — but have been hampered by absences. Therefore, Democrats have been able to confirm numerous judges, and Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) have voted yes on the more than 20 judicial vacancy-related votes the Senate has held since the election, from ending debate on various nominees to their actual confirmations.
But beyond judges, both senators are hoping to get some of their own bills through the Senate too.
“We hope that some of the bipartisan bills that, of course, I’ve been on, and others that have overwhelmingly bipartisan support — [that] we can get those passed as well,” Rosen said on a call with reporters.
Cortez Masto already scored a win in that department, with legislation she introduced reauthorizing funding for Alzheimer’s research passing the full Senate on Thursday via unanimous consent. That bill now heads to the president’s desk for funding.
Rosen highlighted the Small Business Childcare Investment Act, a bill she introduced with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), to allow nonprofits — such as YMCAs, churches, synagogues or senior centers — opening child care facilities to have access to funding from the Small Business Administration, as an example of a bipartisan bill she’ll push to pass in the lame duck.
The lame duck period also provides the senators with their last opportunities to make requests of the outgoing president — important, given that many constituents are calling on Biden to Trump-proof the federal government with new regulations or policies, and that the next president will be far less inclined to listen to feedback from Democratic senators.
Some of that will include ensuring that entities in Nevada receive obligated funds from federal programs that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration might rescind. Rosen, for example, has already called on the Commerce Department to stand ready to receive the state’s application for the next round of broadband funding, and ensure it receives the full $416 million it has been promised from the program — a goal made more urgent by a Trump administration serious about cutting the federal budget.
As the senators’ offices begin hearing more from state and local agencies about what funding is outstanding from these programs, I’d expect their requests of the administration to become more urgent.
The Nevada Angle
Senators’ most Nevada-centric priority is, of course, their lands bills, which have been a major part of their answer to the high housing costs weighing on Nevadans. Each passed out of committee on Tuesday, meaning they could receive votes on the Senate floor — if only Schumer can find the time.
As I laid out in my story about this Wednesday, these bills will die if they do not pass by Dec. 20. The likeliest vehicle for passage would be some sort of public lands package, combining the smorgasbord of outstanding lands legislation that passed committee on Tuesday.
Such a bill would be an exciting note to go out on for Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), the Energy & Natural Resources chair who is retiring at the end of this term — but given that judges are the priority, and a defense bill and funding bill are required, the clock may run out.
The Impact
As both Nevada senators are Democrats, they’re about to be relegated to the minority in the Senate for at least two years. The lame duck session may be their last, best opportunity to try to advance some of these priorities for quite awhile.
Around the Capitol
🏘️AACEd it — Remember the Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts (AACE) Act, which Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) wrote and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo endorsed? Well, now its companion bill in the Senate, introduced by Cortez Masto, passed out of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. It has three weeks of session time to get through the full Senate; otherwise, it’ll time out at the end of the year.
🟣Lee-ding the battleground reps — Last week’s D.C. Download focused on Lee’s bid to be the battleground leadership representative for House Democrats. By a 21-17 vote in the second round of voting, she beat Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH), and will now serve in that role for the next two years.
🇮🇱NV senators: No restrictions on arms to israel — Eighteen Senate Democrats voted to block the sale of certain arms to Israel as the war in Gaza continues — but both Nevada senators voted against the proposal.
Speaking on the floor, Rosen, a former synagogue president and reliably pro-Israel voice, acknowledged frustrations with the Israeli government but defended her vote.
“I know some on my side of the aisle are going to support these resolutions because they disagree with the current Israeli government,” she said. “But your decision whether to help Israel defend itself cannot be a political one. Government leaders and politicians, well, they come and go, but our commitment to Israel’s security must be ironclad.”
😧Nonprofits vs. Lee — Twenty-five nonprofits in Nevada, led by Athar Haseebullah of the American Civil Liberties Union, sent a letter to Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) expressing their concerns over her “yes” vote on the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.
The bill would give the treasury secretary discretion to strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they are found to be associating with designated terrorist groups. In the wake of Trump’s victory, nonprofits are now concerned his administration could abuse this power to go after nonprofits he dislikes.
Lee was one of 15 Democrats to support the bill, which was first introduced in September and which had significant support from Democrats — Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) was a co-sponsor. But as nonprofits protested and as Trump’s ascension became reality, most Democrats abandoned the bill. Neither Titus nor Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) voted in favor of the bill Thursday.
Lee defended her vote, saying it would “ensure we are holding our nation’s adversaries accountable to keep Americans safe.”
⛰️Amodei’s land bill advances — Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) Northern Nevada-focused lands bill passed through the House Natural Resources Committee, meaning it could receive a floor vote in the next few weeks. But an amendment weakening the conservation portions meant it lost the support of at least one group — the Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF). CLF is asking Congress to support the bill as originally written, rather than the amended version.
What I’m Reading
NOTUS: Steven Horsford privately weighed another bid for CBC Chair
“It’s hard for a young member to be chair and transition to just being a regular member without leaving Congress.”
The Nevada Independent: Clark, Washoe lands bills pass key Senate hurdle. Time to make them law is running short.
Speaking of recess priorities!
Reno Gazette Journal: Bill authorizing new Reno VA hospital passes US Senate, heads to Biden for signature
The northern delegation achieves a longtime priority.
Notable and Quotable
“[I’m] probably not going to vote for RFK for HHS.”
— Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), demonstrating why Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services might be an uphill climb
Vote of the Week
H.R.9495 — On Passage: Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
Here’s the bill in question that has nonprofits in Nevada mad. The offending part of the bill, to them, is the provision that would allow the treasury secretary to revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status over affiliation with terrorist organizations — a measure they say could be applied by Trump haphazardly.
AMODEI: Yes
HORSFORD: No
LEE: Yes
TITUS: No
