With the House on recess for the month, the Senate resumed work this week, confirming two judges and teeing up a legislative package that funds the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education.

To date, the Senate has confirmed 26 appellate court judges, a record number for the first two years of a president’s term in office. The feat will be part of the legacy of President Donald Trump and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell because of the lasting impact on the nation as a result of the rulings the judges will issue during their time on the bench.

Nevada’s Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, were divided over the latest two judges to come before the chamber. Both voted to confirm Julius Ness Richardson, of South Carolina, to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. But Cortez Masto voted, along with most Senate Democrats, against A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., of South Carolina, to join the same court. He was confirmed 62 to 28. Her spokesman, Ryan King, said she opposed the nomination because he had been confirmed as a district court judge in March—with her vote—and that his lack of experience on the bench caused her to oppose his elevation to be an appellate court judge.

Next week, the Senate will begin debate on a spending package that includes funding for the Pentagon. The measure, which could be approved by the Senate by the end of the week, would provide $674 billion for defense spending, the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The package also includes funding the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, which would receive $179 billion under the Senate package.

Despite being in session for only two days this week, Nevada lawmakers managed to squeeze in some notable happenings.

Heller gave a speech commemorating Paul Laxalt, who passed away last week. His storied career in politics included stints as governor and in the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1974 through 1987. “Sen. Laxalt had a profound impact on many of my colleagues here in the Senate,” Heller said noting Laxalt’s friendship with Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont. “It didn’t matter if you were a Democrat or Republican, Senator Laxalt would be your friend.”

The Senate Thursday also passed a resolution paying tribute to Paul Laxalt.

Heller is in a tough re-election battle against Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen. While he tends to avoid the press, he gave a rare interview to The Washington Examiner in Reno that was published Thursday. In it, he said that to win he needs to make the race about Nevada. He acknowledged that making the race about Nevada is difficult given the less-than-flattering headlines that Trump typically gets. "The key to my race is making it about Nevada. That's getting harder and harder to do," Heller said. "If I make this about the future of Nevada, I'm going to get re-elected ... If she makes it about Washington, D.C. and Donald Trump, she knows she wins."

Nevertheless, he believes that he needs Trump’s support to get the GOP base out. While his relationship with Trump “was a little shaky in the beginning,” it “has come around,” Heller said.

Heller also said he believes having Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is the Republican running for governor, at the top of the ticket helps him, as well.

On Thursday, Cortez Masto questioned Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai about what could be done to improve the bad cell phone service in the Las Vegas Valley. Pai, who appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, responded that more spectrum for carriers would help, as would infrastructure to make it easier to deploy towers and small cells, and smarter subsidy programs.

She also signed on to a letter with 48 other Democratic Senators calling on Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney not to continue to have the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau do proactive checks of lenders to ensure that they are not violating the Military Lending Act, which caps the annual interest rate for an extension of consumer credit to a service member or his or her dependents at 36 percent. The letter comes after reports from The New York Times and NPR said Mulvaney was planning to end the examination of lenders.

Meanwhile, Nevada’s House members kept busy in their districts.

On Monday, Rosen participated in a roundtable hosted at the Service Employees International Union Local 1107 office in their Las Vegas headquarters. She appeared with a score of union members, home health-care workers and teachers union representatives who alternatively discussed her support for a $15.00 an hour federal minimum wage and slammed Heller’s comments last week at a Latin Chamber of Commerce event in Las Vegas that he didn’t “think there ought to be a national minimum wage,” preferring for states to set their own wage floors.

Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican, talked with the Carson City Board of Supervisors to discuss his work on the Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Ruben Kihuen, a Democrat, met with representatives of the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas to discuss immigration, family separations, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and other local issues impacting our Mexican-American community.

Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat, was critical of Trump on Twitter over the cancelation of the military parade he had wanted to have. He blamed the local Washington politicians for inflating the price, to which Titus responded: “It's always someone else's fault.”

Lastly, in an effort to push back against President Donald Trump’s campaign to undermine the press—and, by extension, stories that are critical of him, his business and family—the Senate Thursday approved a non-binding resolution stating that the Senate “affirms that the press is not the enemy of the people.” The resolution, which was approved by unanimous consent, was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii. “We can’t let statements by the president go unchallenged,” said Schatz in a speech on the Senate floor.

For a full rundown of the measures the delegates supported or opposed this week, check out The Nevada Independent’s congressional vote tracker and other information below.

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO
Legislation sponsored:
S. 3349 – Storey County Land Conveyance Act
Legislation co-sponsored:
S. 3353 – A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year to carry out the simplification of applications for the estimation and determination of financial aid eligibility, to increase the income threshold to qualify for zero expected family contribution, and for other purposes.