A lot has changed since I last sat down with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) in December to talk about the then-upcoming Donald Trump presidency. 

As the only Republican in Nevada’s congressional delegation, Amodei is keenly aware that he might be the only Nevadan in Washington (sorry, Kash Patel) that the new administration is willing to hear out. In an interview Tuesday, he described how he is tackling the responsibility.

Instead of the usual format, I’m going to divide up our conversation based on topic. Let’s dive in!

Town halls

Protesters have rallied outside of Amodei’s office in Reno demanding a town hall, but their request isn’t going to be granted.

Amodei hasn’t been a fan of town halls since he and then-Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) co-hosted a crowded and prickly one in Reno in 2017. He hasn’t hosted one since.

So he wasn’t too fussed about Republican leaders advising members to stop hosting town halls after several members have been dressed down in viral moments over the impact of cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Town hall is now a code word for, ‘Let's go bully the shit out of somebody in public,’” Amodei said. 

Amodei argued that he’s an accessible member, between interviews and meetings with interest groups and constituents. He also pointed out that his district has voted for Donald Trump at every opportunity.

“There's stuff we agree with, there's stuff we don't agree with, but I don't need to be screamed at by a bunch of people who are just pissed because I got elected,” Amodei said. “It’s like, hey — we reflect the district.”

DOGE cuts

Amodei had some criticism for Trump and Elon Musk’s methods of cutting the federal workforce in an interview last month with the Reno Gazette Journal. While he told The Nevada Independent that he agrees that the size of the federal government needs to shrink, it’s been pursued too haphazardly to the detriment of important functions in Nevada. In particular, he disagreed with the firings of probationary employees for the simple fact that they’re probationary.

As an example, Amodei said in a complex emergency such as the 2024 Davis Fire in the Washoe Valley, numerous federal employees who provide support services such as medical care and supplies to firefighters are needed but don’t always have “fire” in their names, and thus may not be identified in algorithms as essential.

Amodei said his goal has been to be the best-informed person on the state of the federal presence in Nevada in any given meeting — especially with staff from the Trump administration — to provide an accurate picture of how firings are affecting the state.

“I don't want somebody sharpshooting me in the administration going, ‘Well, you're just reacting,’” Amodei said. “[I want to be able to say], ‘Here's who I talked to, here's what I was told, here's what I believe the facts are.’ And because those are what the facts are, those are not good facts.”

So far, Amodei said he’s been in contact with district rangers from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service regional supervisor for Nevada, Nevada personnel at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Nevada state employees who handle Medicaid. Next week, he has a meeting booked with new Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to elevate public lands-related concerns to the Cabinet level — including explaining that the BLM in Nevada deals with chronic understaffing.

He said he also is trying to arrange a meeting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his staff to raise concerns he’s hearing from Churchill County about the implementation of the 2022 Fallon Range Training Complex expansion, to ensure the Navy knows that communication with landowners with grazing rights can be improved.

As the head of the appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, Amodei is also in charge of shepherding the Department of Homeland Security’s budget requests through Congress — so he’s been fielding concerns about cuts there too, including at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which he said has seen a 10 percent staff reduction, and defending those agencies from DOGE cuts when appropriate.

Although he said he expects the building of a new Veterans’ Affairs Hospital in Reno should proceed as planned, he’ll continue to monitor the situation in case anything changes.

Medicaid

Federal funding for Medicaid has been a huge topic at the Legislature, with the budget passed by House Republicans directing the committee that has jurisdiction over Medicaid to identify $880 billion worth of cuts. 

State officials project that one proposal to end enhanced federal spending for the Medicaid expansion population could cost Nevada $1.9 billion in funding over the next two years, given that the federal government matches state spending on the program that provides health insurance for around 1 in 4 Nevadans.

It’s not just Democrats who are concerned — in a letter, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo said cuts to Medicaid would be detrimental to the state.

Republicans say they won’t touch Medicaid, and that they can cut the promised $880 billion purely through rooting out waste, fraud and abuse — even as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s analysis found that such a figure cannot be achieved without making cuts to Medicaid.

Amodei, who voted for the budget resolution — which initiates the process to unlock reconciliation, a procedure by which budgetary bills can be passed in the Senate with only 50 votes — said he does not expect that there’s $880 billion worth of savings to be found purely through cutting inefficiencies and waste. But he voted “yes” because he wants greater oversight.

“I want to go through the drill,” Amodei said. “That's a hell of a lot of money … do you think they're going to find that much? I don't know, but in a yes or no thing, it’s like, I don't think they're going to find that. But, go through the drill anyway.”

Tariffs

Amodei, the co-chair of the American-Canadian Economy and Security Caucus, has long been invested in a productive relationship between the U.S. and Canada. To that effect, he introduced a bipartisan resolution in late February reaffirming the importance of the partnership between the U.S. and its northern neighbor.

But Trump’s ever-evolving tariff policy is creating a frosty relationship between the two nations.

Amodei said for now, he plans to “flow with that” and reevaluate impacts in a month.

“You want to play a little chicken for now — OK,” he said. “But, we’re watching.”

Around the Capitol

🇺🇸SOTU scenes — On Tuesday, Trump gave the first joint address to Congress of his second term — a key messaging opportunity for both parties. To that effect, Nevada Democrats brought people who could be affected by future cuts to Medicaid or education funding.

Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) brought Michelle Booth, an education advocate with Educate Nevada Now and the parent of a child with autism. In an interview, Booth said she wanted to attend the speech to draw attention to the potential negative impacts of Trump’s proposal to cut the Department of Education. 

Booth said her son has federal protections as a special needs student, but she worries that without a Department of Education in place, she would have no recourse if his needs are not being met.

“I would be at the mercy of the local jurisdiction and local politics,” Booth said. “It was always comforting to know we had that at the federal level, and that would be gone.”

Are parents in Las Vegas worried about what’s happening in Washington? Booth said it’s a matter of education — and noted it can be difficult to reach parents in online groups, which are often averse to political discussion.

“Some people aren't sure necessarily — they're not paying attention to it or they might not be connecting the dots,” Booth said. “But once they do, it's complete fear.”

🧑‍🌾Trump campaign veteran in at Department of Agriculture — Alida Ceballos, who served as the Nevada state director on Trump’s 2024 campaign, is working for the new administration.

Ceballos is now the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Nevada state director, replacing an appointee of former President Joe Biden. Ceballos (formerly Benson) is a longtime Nevada GOP operative who also previously worked as the state GOP’s executive director.

🏘️Horsford at HUD — Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) is introducing legislation to address the high cost of housing and taking part in housing-related protests. Horsford is re-introducing his HOME Act, which would cap the amount of housing stock that institutional investors can buy up in various markets and beef up oversight of corporate housing investors. 

And he joined other Democrats to protest proposed cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday — previewing what’s sure to be a popular line of attack this cycle.

“If they want to evict someone, evict Elon Musk,” Horsford said in an interview.

📺Buying ad time: the feds — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in February that the department would be launching a $200 million ad campaign thanking Trump for securing the border — and those taxpayer-funded ads are now running in Nevada. 

“If you are here illegally, we will find you and we will deport you,” Noem says in the ad. “You will never return.”

What I’m Reading

Nevada Current: Veterans in Nevada lose jobs, and faith that they’ll be helped

Veterans are 34 percent of the federal workforce in Nevada.

The Nevada Independent: All Nevada GSA employees fired as Trump, Musk continue slashing federal workforce

Expect more of these stories after the March 13 deadline for agencies to submit reduction in force plans.

Mining Weekly: Lithium Americas lands $250m Orion investment to fund Thacker Pass

A big development for Thacker Pass as tariff fears and the murky picture on clean energy tax credits take root.

Notable and Quotable

“I don’t think [Trump] and [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau send each other Christmas cards.”

— Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), on the tariffs Trump has imposed on Canada

Vote of the Week

H.Res.189 — On Agreeing to the Resolution: Censuring Representative Al Green of Texas

After Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was kicked out of Trump’s address for protesting during the speech, the House voted to censure him on Thursday, recording a formal measure of disapproval. While 10 Democrats joined all Republicans to vote yes, none of the Nevada Democrats did. Lee said she voted “no” on free speech grounds.

AMODEI: Yes

HORSFORD: No

LEE: No

TITUS: No