Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) butted heads Wednesday when she accused him of “stalking” her staff, after the Republican admitted to collecting the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) of his Democratic colleagues’ cars. 

The spat occurred during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on a batch of President Donald Trump’s nominees, during which Moreno said he was trying to expose his colleagues’ hypocrisy. 

That admission soon led to a debate about privacy and which party bears responsibility for the ongoing government shutdown, now the longest in American history at 36 days. 

It started when Moreno, who ran car dealerships before his political career, pointed out that extra automobile safety features can be costly. 

“Would it surprise you that I got the VIN numbers of every one of my Democrat colleagues’ vehicles and found that none of them bought any of the additional safety technologies on their cars?” Moreno asked. “So when you are actually shopping for a car with your own money, you don’t buy the technology, but we’re sitting here saying this should be mandated for everybody else’s cars.”  

Two senators spoke without addressing Moreno. But Rosen was perturbed. 

“I’d like to ask for Sen. Moreno to submit to the committee how he obtained our personal VIN numbers, what he plans to do with them, and appears to be a clear overreach and violation of our privacy, and not accurate as to what he said, especially about — I can talk about my own vehicles,” she said.

Moreno said the numbers are displayed on windshields, which is true — VINs are generally visible on the driver’s side dashboard. But they are printed in small text, meaning anyone who wants to read a VIN has to walk right up to the vehicle. 

“You went into my garage in Las Vegas to find the VIN number on my car?” Rosen asked.

“Nope,” he said. 

The two went back and forth on whether she had a car in D.C., with Moreno implying she rode in one while in Washington. 

She paused before responding icily, “That is my staff’s car.”

Rosen, typically known as one of the most bipartisan Democrats in Congress, continued questioning the nominees about how they would strengthen tourism to Nevada and whether they would make sure airport improvement funds were delivered on time. 

But Moreno wasn’t done. 

“I think what we just saw was exactly classic Washington, D.C.,” he said. “In other words, ‘The car that I drive should be safe. The car that my staff drives, who cares about them? I get a paycheck — ’”

“I object to you stalking my car and my staff to find the VIN numbers to present to this committee,” said Rosen, raising her voice. “It’s an invasion of our privacy. If you came and asked me for my VIN, I will tell you what I have in my car.”

“It’s visible from the outside of the car,” he said. 

“You went and followed me to see who drives me and write down their VIN number?” she asked. “You interrupted me. You’re attacking me. You watched me go to see who drives me, writing down their VIN number — ”

“Yep.”

“— so you could find out what they have,” she said. “That seems a little creepy,” 

“Just to expose the hypocrisy,” Moreno said. 

The argument then turned to the federal government shutdown.

“This is the Republican shutdown, my friend,” she said, her voice rising. “You are in control of the White House. You are in control of the House and you are in control of the Senate. And if you went home to a food bank instead of going to Mar-a-Lago to eat at a gold-plated dinner while people are starving, you might see and hear your constituents, sir.”

She invited Moreno to speak to her privately.

Asked for additional context, Moreno Communications Director Reagan McCarthy told The Nevada Independent, “His comments speak for themselves, VINs are visible from the outside.”

She followed up later with a longer statement: “Senator Moreno utilized information that is available to the general public to expose Democrats’ hypocrisy, and their willingness to hold Americans to a higher standard than themselves. It’s a shame that Democrats choose to engage in selective outrage while they allow federal workers to miss their paychecks.”

Rosen stood behind her remarks as well. 

“Instead of [Bernie Moreno] creepily following us to the cars we use to get to work in the Capitol and writing down their VIN numbers, I’d suggest he use his time in more productive ways — like coming to the table and negotiating with Democrats on actions to protect Americans’ access to affordable health care and end this Republican shutdown,” she wrote on social media.