Another savage week at the Capitol!

While none of the ongoing drama surrounding the new cabinet secretaries involves the Nevada delegation, all the attention on January is warranted. But we still have three weeks of session left until then — and, as a last chance for any bill introduced in the last two years to pass, you can be sure that Nevada’s senators have a wish list of items they would like. to see get a floor vote.

What is realistic? Not much. Let’s go.

The news of the week: the lame duck’s priorities

The priority of Senate Democrats for the next three weeks? Judges, judges, judges. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledged to use his remaining time controlling the floor to fill judicial vacancies, adding 220 which the upper house confirmed under the presidency of Joe Biden.

Senate Republicans throw obstacles in their way – forcing full call proceed to votes, for example — but were hampered by absences. As a result, Democrats were able to confirm many judges, and Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) voted yes in the more than 20 vacancy-related votes the Senate has held since the election. , from the end of the debate on the different candidates to their effective confirmation.

But beyond the judges, the two senators also hope to pass some of their own bills in the Senate.

“We’re hoping that some of the bipartisan bills that I’ve been involved with, of course, and others that have mostly bipartisan support, we’ll be able to get passed as well,” Rosen said in a call with journalists.

Cortez Masto has already scored a victory in that department, with legislation she introduced reauthorizing funding for Alzheimer’s research that passed the full Senate by unanimous consent on Thursday. This bill now heads to the President’s desk for funding.

Rosen highlighted the Small Business Childcare Investment Act, a bill she introduced with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), to allow nonprofit organizations — such as YMCAs, churches, synagogues or senior centers – to open child care centers to access funding from the Small Business Administration, as an example of a bipartisan bill she will push to pass in lame duck form.

The lame duck period also offers senators their last opportunity to make demands of the outgoing president — which is important, given that many voters are calling on Biden to put the federal government to Trump’s test with new regulations or policies, and that the next president will be much less inclined to listen to the comments of Democratic senators.

This will include ensuring that Nevada entities receive committed funds from federal programs that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration could repeal. Rosen, for example, has already called Commerce must stand ready to receive the state’s request for the next round of broadband funding and ensure it receives the full $416 million it was promised under the program – a goal made more urgent by a Trump administration serious about cutting the federal budget.

As senators’ offices begin to hear more from state and local agencies about outstanding funding under these programs, I would expect their requests to the administration to become more urgent.

The Nevada Angle

The senators’ most Nevada-focused priority is, of course, their land bills, which have been an important part of their response to the high housing costs burdening Nevadans. Each of them was removed from committee on Tuesday, meaning they could receive votes in the Senate — if only Schumer could find the time.

As I fitted out in my article on Wednesday, these bills will die if they are not passed by December 20. The most likely route to passage would be some sort of public lands package, combining the assortment of exceptional lands bills that passed out of committee Tuesday.

Such a bill would be an exciting note for Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), the Energy and Natural Resources chairman who is retiring at the end of this term — but given that judges are the priority and that an advocate an invoice and a financing invoice are necessary, time may run out.

The impact

Since both Nevada senators are Democrats, they are about to be relegated to the minority in the Senate for at least two years. The lame duck session might be their last and best opportunity to try to move some of these priorities forward for a while.

Around the Capitol

AACEd it – Remember the Accelerating Assessments and Conservation Efforts (AACE) Act, authored by Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. approved? Well, now its Senate companion bill, introduced by Cortez Masto, has passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He has three weeks in session to travel through the entire Senate; otherwise, it will expire at the end of the year.

Lee-ding the representatives of the battlefield — Last week DC Download focused on Lee’s bid to become the battleground leadership representative for House Democrats. By a vote of 21 to 17 in the second round of voting, she defeated Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) and will now serve in that position for the next two years.

NV Senators: No Restrictions on Arms to Israel — Eighteen Democratic senators vote to block the sale of certain weapons to Israel as the war in Gaza continues – but both Nevada senators voted against the proposal.

Speaking on the ground, Rosen, a former synagogue president and reliable pro-Israel voice, acknowledged her frustrations with the Israeli government but defended her vote.

“I know that some on my side will support these resolutions because they disagree with the current Israeli government,” she said. “But your decision whether or not to help Israel defend itself cannot be a political decision. Government leaders and politicians, well, they come and go, but our commitment to Israel’s security must be ironclad.”

Nonprofits vs. Lee — Twenty-five Nevada nonprofits, led by Athar Haseebullah of the American Civil Liberties Union, sent a letter to Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) expressing concerns about her “yes” vote on the Stop Terrorism Financing and U.S. Hostage Tax Penalties Act.

The bill would give the Treasury Secretary discretion to strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they are found to associate with designated terrorist groups. In the wake of Trump’s victory, nonprofits now fear his administration will abuse this power to go after nonprofits he doesn’t like.

Lee was one of 15 Democrats to support the Invoicewhich was first introduced in September and had significant support from Democrats – Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) was a co-sponsor. But as nonprofits protested and Trump’s rise became reality, most Democrats abandoned the bill. Neither Titus nor Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) voted in favor of the bill Thursday.

Lee defended his vote, saying it would “ensure that we hold our nation’s adversaries accountable for keeping Americans safe.”

Amodei land bill moves forward — Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) northern Nevada-focused land bill has passed the House Natural Resources Committee, meaning it could come up for a vote during of the next few weeks. But an amendment weakening the conservation portions caused him to lose the support of at least one group: the Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF). CLF is calling on Congress to support the bill as originally written, rather than the amended version.

What I read

NOTICED : Steven Horsford privately weighed another bid for CBC president

“It’s difficult for a young member to be president and just become a regular member without leaving Congress.”

The Nevada Independent: “Clark, Washoe land bills clear key Senate hurdle”. Time is running out to make it law.

Speaking of playtime priorities!

Reno Gazette Journal: Bill Authorizing New Reno VA Hospital Passes U.S. Senate, Heads to Biden for Signing

The Northern delegation is fulfilling a long-standing priority.

Remarkable and quotable

“(I’m) probably not going to vote for RFK for HHS.”

— Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), demonstrating why nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services could be an uphill climb

Vote of the week

HR9495 — By the way: Stop terrorist financing and tax sanctions linked to the American hostage law

Here’s the bill in question that’s driving Nevada’s nonprofits crazy. The offending part of the bill, in their eyes, is the provision that would allow the Treasury Secretary to revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status because of its affiliation with terrorist organizations — a move that , according to them, could be applied by Trump at random.

AMODEI: Yes

HORSFORD: No.

LEE: Yes

TITUS: No