Nevadans are learning that unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Washington (and Mar-a-Lago) doesn’t stay in Washington.

After more than two months into the Trump administration, we’re starting to see the impacts of the funding cuts, cancellations and rescissions pursued by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As my colleagues Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren reported, nearly 50 state health employees were let go after the sudden cancellation of pandemic-era federal grants. 

Between cuts to two programs, Nevada food banks are facing 10 percent budget holes and seeing deliveries cancelled. 

And though some fired federal employees (including at Great Basin National Park) are back to work thanks to a judicial order, the massive layoffs expected across federal agencies means there’s more to come.

The Walker River Paiute Tribe is one group in Nevada that’s been left in limbo by the torrent of executive action. A $20 million grant to the tribe for climate resiliency projects, including much-needed upgrades to the reservation’s water infrastructure, has been suspended by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Ostensibly ensnared in the Trump administration's crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion — the grant program has “environmental justice” in the name — the tribe and its partners are trying to leverage relationships in Congress, including with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), to get the funding reinstated. 

The federal government’s war on DEI goes beyond academia or corporate culture — and things such as the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s new water storage tank hang in the balance. Read more here.

Around the Capitol

🏛️Effectiveness ratings are in — Three Nevadans landed in the top 10 for their caucuses in the Center for Effective Lawmaking’s biannual scorecard, which attempts to quantify how effective members of Congress based on how many bills they get passed, and how substantive those bills are.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) finished third among all House Democrats. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was seventh among Senate Democrats and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) was eighth. Titus’ influence was greatest on international affairs policy, Cortez Masto’s on Native Americans and Rosen’s on education.

📵Rosen sends a Signal — Rosen led a group of 15 Senate Democrats in a Thursday letter calling for hearings into top Trump administration figures’ handling of classified information after a bombshell story in The Atlantic revealed that Cabinet officials were discussing specific war plans in a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a journalist.

Rosen’s letter goes right to the top, calling for Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, among others in the group chat, to testify.

💊Cortez Masto, Horsford go after drugmakers   — Cortez Masto and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) introduced bicameral legislation Thursday to expand a prescription drug policy created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

The IRA included a provision that fines pharmaceutical companies for increasing prices at a rate faster than inflation for prescription drugs covered by Medicare. The Nevadans’ bill would expand that to private insurance.

What I’m Reading

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sheriff rejects requests to use Las Vegas officers for immigration enforcement

Sheriff Kevin McMahill has been quite consistent about this — but it hasn’t stopped the feds from asking.

The Nevada Independent: Poll: Nevada voters oppose Medicaid cuts, Department of Education elimination

Trump’s Nevada poll number: +1. Trump’s 2024 margin of victory: +3.

The Associated Press: Man accused of setting fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas arrested, police say

Attacks on Tesla have been reported around the country.

Notable and Quotable

“I don't know what happened there or why or whatever, but if I ever suspect that I'm on a group whatever, I'm getting out of it.”

— Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), in an interview on Wednesday, on the Signal group chat

Vote of the Week

H.R.1048 — On Passage: DETERRENT Act

This Republican-sponsored bill tightens the standards for universities to receive foreign gifts, lowering the reporting threshold and prohibiting higher education from entering contracts with foreign countries of concern.

AMODEI: Not voting

HORSFORD: Yes

LEE: Yes

TITUS: No