As the government shutdown enters its third week, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said in interviews with The Nevada Independent that they are more than willing to negotiate with Republicans — if only GOP leaders would let them. 

“I am frustrated that we’re seeing leadership, particularly on the Republican side, who are in control, not coming to the table to help engage in that negotiation,” said Cortez Masto, one of just two Democrats who voted for a Republican-backed bill to fund the government. “But I know there’s some of my Republican colleagues that are willing to talk and figure out how we break this impasse and move forward.”

She said that the behind-the-scenes conversations are substantively the same as they were two weeks ago and suggested they remained focused on extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that make it cheaper to buy health insurance on the individual marketplace — the raison d’etre of the shutdown. 

“There is support to extend the health care subsidies for the ACA,” Cortez Masto said, noting she had just stepped out of a meeting with a Republican senator on the issue prior to the interview. “No matter where you live, whether it’s a blue state or red state, it is important we extend those health care subsidies, and I know my Republican colleagues understand that. That’s why they are willing to have this conversation.”

Democrats aren’t feeling much pressure to bend. Recent polling shows most Americans blame both parties equally for the shutdown. Meanwhile, a judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration’s attempts to lay off federal workers are illegal, removing some of the White House’s leverage. But over the next few weeks, pressure will ramp up on both parties, especially as open enrollment begins Nov. 1 and voters begin to face the realities of higher health care costs.

For her part, Rosen said she’s disappointed about the lack of sit-down negotiations. She accused Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) of bowing to President Donald Trump. 

“There are ways we can fight against waste, fraud and abuse,” Rosen said. “There are probably other things that we can work on together, but you have to come and sit at the same table to do that, and because Donald Trump doesn’t want him to, Leader Thune is abdicating his responsibility — we’re going to take that word ‘Leader’ out of his job title — Senator Thune is abdicating his responsibility, to the president.” 

Both senators declined to share specific details about the ongoing negotiations. 

‘Different sides’

While most Democrats have continued to vote against funding the government to maintain leverage in health care negotiations, Cortez Masto is in a unique position.

The only other Democratic senator who voted for the GOP-funding measure, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), has called his experience of the shutdown “very isolating.” 

Asked if she felt the same way, Cortez Masto replied, “No, I’ve actually been very engaged with not only my Democratic colleagues, but like I said, with my Republican colleagues, and finding a path forward.”

Still, her vote has put some distance between her and the other Democratic members of the Nevada delegation, all of whom opposed the GOP funding measure. 

Rosen told The Nevada Independent she had not spoken with Cortez Masto about shutdown strategy. 

“We came down on different sides of what we thought was the right thing,” Rosen said. “I do think that there’s common ground there. Like I said, we have to figure out how we find a way to reopen the government and take care of people’s health care, and I think we’re both in agreement on that. And so we haven’t talked about strategy, but we’ve talked about the looming crisis, of course.”

The state’s senior senator addressed her break with Rosen in comments to The Los Angeles Times.

“She’s a good friend,” Cortez Masto said. “Our goal is to fight for Nevada and we are doing it. … We both are doing it in different ways.”

Cortez Masto will be a senator to watch as Thune tries a new strategy to break the logjam this week. He has scheduled a vote Thursday on advancing a full-year defense appropriations bill. 

“It’s something I’m still looking at,” Cortez Masto said. “But let me just say this, the strategy for all leadership, including in the White House, would be to get together and work like we traditionally have in the past … not just in moving appropriations bills, but also in addressing the health care crisis that we have in this country.”

Health care high ground 

Democrats are keeping ACA subsidies at the center of the shutdown fight, focusing on the universal impact of rising health care costs. Polling has found that even a majority of Republicans support extending these tax credits, giving Democrats plenty of political cover to stick to their demands. In Nevada, enhancements made to the subsidies during the Biden administration make insurance free for some individuals who buy it on the market. Without them, plans could become prohibitively expensive. 

“Everyone in America is going to see their premiums, some places, more than double, everyone,” Rosen said. “This is a right-now problem, and it’s an all of us problem.”

According to data from KFF, Nevada has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the nation. Providers and insurers often shift the costs related to uninsured patients onto everyone else. 

In an interview with The Nevada Independent, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) said she has heard from numerous constituents whose premiums are doubling — or worse. She highlighted a single mom who takes home $50,000 per year and now pays $85 per month for insurance, but is expecting an eightfold increase to $700 without the tax credits.

Lee echoed the senators’ eagerness to make a deal. 

“Eventually, they got to sit down with Democrats and decide what it is that is acceptable to both of us,” Lee said. “I understand Republicans want some income caps on it … I think that this whole income eligibility is a little moot point, but if that’s what they need to support it, that’s something I’d be willing to look at.”

For now, though, House Democrats such as Lee are stuck in a holding pattern. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has kept the House out of session for nearly a month, providing little opportunity for negotiation outside of the Republican funding bill the chamber passed in September. 

All three members who spoke to The Nevada Independent criticized Johnson, with Rosen delivering some of the harshest attacks.

“Mike Johnson has fully capitulated to Donald Trump, because they are literally the Do Nothing Congress,” she said, adding, “Mike Johnson needs to read the damn Constitution.” 

For his part, Johnson has said the House “did its job” in passing a funding bill.

When will it end?

Johnson has predicted that the current shutdown could become the longest in American history. To break that record, it would have to stretch into the first week of November.

Some Nevada Democrats are watching Nov. 1, the day that open enrollment on health insurance exchanges officially starts, as a key date when pressure will ramp up. It coincides with the day Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo has suggested the state could see “more significant challenges” due to a lack of federal funding. 

David Damore, a political science professor at UNLV, agreed that pressure is likely to ramp up at the beginning of November, when Nevadans will start to feel the effects of the shutdown more acutely. 

“So far, I think it’s designed not to be too visible,” Damore said. “National parks are still open, that kind of stuff. The military is getting paid. … And if the state says we’re good for at least the next couple of weeks, then I think for the most part, people aren’t really feeling that impact yet.” 

Rosen noted the urgency of getting ACA subsidies worked out before too many Americans make their health insurance decisions for 2026. 

“People have to decide right now and then they’re locked in,” she said. “So let’s say your insurance premium is $1,000 a month. It’s going up to $2,000. You say, ‘Well, now I’m going to not get insurance.’ Well, once that window closes, you can’t even get insurance again. So you’re locked out of insurance for a year.” 

Nevada Democrats are showing no signs of backing down in their fight. Asked what she expected to change to finally end the shutdown, Rosen, like all of Washington, did not have a clear answer. 

“I don’t know,” she said. “But we’re gonna have to keep trying to force the issue.”