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Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What a Senate floor clash between two Democrats says about where the party is headed
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., clashed with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., this week when he, in a fiery floor speech, tried to block a package of police funding bills as he called for greater resistance to President Donald Trump's policies. Afterward, Booker alluded to his efforts in the face of criticism from Cortez Masto saying, 'What's bothering me right now is we don't see enough fight in this caucus.' In an interview, Cortez Masto had her own message. 'I don't need a lecture from anybody about how to take on and push back and fight against Donald Trump,' Cortez Masto said. She took a shot at 'long speeches' as a form of resistance, calling them ineffective as Democrats seek to win back Congress and eventually the White House. In April, Booker broke a Senate record by speaking for 25 hours, warning of the 'grave and urgent' threat Trump's administration posed to the country. He posted a personal record fundraising haul after that speech. 'If we really are going to take on Donald Trump, we need to win. It's not long speeches on the floor,' Cortez Masto said. 'It's showing the American public that we're there fighting for them, that we're passing commonsense legislation that they care about.' Booker's office declined to comment. The whole spat, a rare intraparty clash that played out in public, is indicative of a larger question vexing Democrats as they look toward the midterms and 2028: Is the party hankering for a fight, or does it just want its lawmakers to get the nuts and bolts done for their communities, even if it means working with Republicans? Cortez Masto, who also heads ModSquad, a political action committee that works to elect moderates to the Senate, is leaning into a Sen. Lisa Murkowski-like strategy that makes bringing home the goods priority No. 1. Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the deciding vote on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' because of provisions she believed benefited her state — even as she said she didn't overall like the legislation, which heavily cut Medicaid. Just this week, Cortez Masto and fellow Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada were the only Democrats to vote to confirm Republican Sam Brown as undersecretary of veterans affairs. Cortez Masto then asked Brown for an update on the construction of a national cemetery in rural Nevada to benefit veterans and their families. Cortez Masto said the path to a Democratic majority is paved by moderates, those who oppose Trump but still work across the aisle to specifically address their states. She pointed to former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's Senate candidacy and the new ad her group just released. It focuses on Cooper's getting 'stuff done' and doesn't even mention Trump. "In North Carolina, it's not about Republican or Democrat. It's about what you'll do for our families," the ad says. To Cortez Masto, who faces re-election in 2028 in a battleground state that Trump won in November, the answer is less about taking hard-line stances against Republicans or disruptions on the Senate floor than about sticking to 'kitchen table' issues that drove the narrative in the last presidential election. The state of the economy, public safety and health care are among the issues dominating conversations with constituents in her home state of Nevada, Cortez Masto said. Some small-business owners fear closing or facing debilitating losses due to Trump's tariffs, grocery prices haven't relented, and gas prices — nearly $4 a gallon in the Reno area — are still too high (though lower than their peak in 2022), she added. "Yes, we want to fight Trump and push back on him and hold him accountable and take him on," she said. "But that doesn't mean at the same time we are doing that we are stopping and harming the people in our states." She didn't think the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files ranked high on the list of issues she would talk about back home. 'If you're asking me is it the No. 1 issue I hear in my state, no, it's not, but do some of my voters care about it? Yes, they absolutely do,' she said of the war in Gaza. On Epstein, she called for transparency while protecting victims but reiterated that she didn't hear her constituents asking about it. Cortez Masto was among a group of senators who sent a letter to the White House calling for greater action to get aid to people starving in Gaza. But in a sign of support for Israel, she voted against resolutions put forth by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would block the sale of weapons to Israel. 'The arms sales all already occurred. So it was, most importantly, a symbolic gesture. At the same time, I understand why they're doing [it]. … I don't think we all have to be on the same page for everything,' she said in explaining her vote. To Cortez Masto, the moderate path means supporting border security but taking a stand against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she described as 'absolutely extreme.' 'There's fear in my community. I see it. I talk and visit with them all the time. Rightfully so; we have less people going to church, going to school. Some of our workforce are gone. They're too afraid to come forward,' said Cortez Masto, whose state is roughly one-third Latino. 'These aren't hardened criminals. These are people who came to our country for a good life and opportunity. They're paying taxes. They want a better life for their kids. They haven't committed violent crimes, but they're being swept up intentionally by this administration because that's what they want to do, and that's where I think this administration has gone too far.' Separately, Cortez Masto said she fully supported any Democratic efforts to redistrict and create additional seats in Congress for her party the same way Republicans have done in Texas. 'Right now the process is Republicans are going to redistrict so that they can gain control. The Democrats should, too. Why wouldn't we fight to take control?' she said. 'Does the general public, do we all like the way that redistricting is played for that power? No, we don't, and we should change the laws, ultimately. But they're not changing now." "The Republicans aren't going to change them," she added. "Republicans are going to benefit, and so until we can gain control and win some of these races, we should be playing by the same rules that the Republicans are using against us and fight back.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
What a Senate floor clash between two Democrats says about where the party is headed
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., clashed with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., this week when Booker, in a fiery floor speech, tried to block a package of police funding bills as he called for greater resistance to President Donald Trump's policies. Afterward, Booker alluded to his efforts in the face of criticism from Cortez Masto saying, 'What's bothering me right now is we don't see enough fight in this caucus.' In an interview, Cortez Masto had her own message. 'I don't need a lecture from anybody about how to take on and push back and fight against Donald Trump,' Cortez Masto said. She took a shot at 'long speeches' as a form of resistance, calling them ineffective as Democrats seek to win back Congress and eventually the White House. In April, Booker broke a Senate record by speaking for 25 hours, warning of the 'grave and urgent' threat Trump's administration posed to the country. He posted a personal record fundraising haul after that speech. 'If we really are going to take on Donald Trump, we need to win. It's not long speeches on the floor,' Cortez Masto said. 'It's showing the American public that we're there fighting for them, that we're passing commonsense legislation that they care about.' Booker's office declined to comment. The whole spat, a rare intraparty clash that played out in public, is indicative of a larger question vexing Democrats as they look toward the midterms and 2028: Is the party hankering for a fight, or does it just want its lawmakers to get the nuts and bolts done for their communities, even if it means working with Republicans? Cortez Masto, who also heads ModSquad, a political action committee that works to elect moderates to the Senate, is leaning into a Sen. Lisa Murkowski-like strategy that makes bringing home the goods priority No. 1. Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the deciding vote on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' because of provisions she believed benefited her state — even as she said she didn't overall like the legislation, which heavily cut Medicaid. Just this week, Cortez Masto and fellow Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada were the only Democrats to vote to confirm Republican Sam Brown as undersecretary of veterans affairs. Cortez Masto then asked Brown for an update on the construction of a national cemetery in rural Nevada to benefit veterans and their families. Cortez Masto said the path to a Democratic majority is paved by moderates, those who oppose Trump but still work across the aisle to specifically address their states. She pointed to former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's Senate candidacy and the new ad her group just released. It focuses on Cooper's getting 'stuff done' and doesn't even mention Trump. "In North Carolina, it's not about Republican or Democrat. It's about what you'll do for our families," the ad says. To Cortez Masto, who faces re-election in 2028 in a battleground state that Trump won in November, the answer is less about taking hard-line stances against Republicans or disruptions on the Senate floor than about sticking to 'kitchen table' issues that drove the narrative in the last presidential election. The state of the economy, public safety and health care are among the issues dominating conversations with constituents in her home state of Nevada, Cortez Masto said. Some small-business owners fear closing or facing debilitating losses due to Trump's tariffs, grocery prices haven't relented, and gas prices — nearly $4 a gallon in the Reno area — are still too high (though lower than their peak in 2022), she added. "Yes, we want to fight Trump and push back on him and hold him accountable and take him on," she said. "But that doesn't mean at the same time we are doing that we are stopping and harming the people in our states." She didn't think the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files ranked high on the list of issues she would talk about back home. 'If you're asking me is it the No. 1 issue I hear in my state, no, it's not, but do some of my voters care about it? Yes, they absolutely do,' she said of the war in Gaza. On Epstein, she called for transparency while protecting victims but reiterated that she didn't hear her constituents asking about it. Cortez Masto was among a group of senators who sent a letter to the White House calling for greater action to get aid to people starving in Gaza. But in a sign of support for Israel, she voted against resolutions put forth by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would block the sale of weapons to Israel. 'The arms sales all already occurred. So it was, most importantly, a symbolic gesture. At the same time, I understand why they're doing [it]. … I don't think we all have to be on the same page for everything,' she said in explaining her vote. To Cortez Masto, the moderate path means supporting border security but taking a stand against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she described as 'absolutely extreme.' 'There's fear in my community. I see it. I talk and visit with them all the time. Rightfully so; we have less people going to church, going to school. Some of our workforce are gone. They're too afraid to come forward,' said Cortez Masto, whose state is roughly one-third Latino. 'These aren't hardened criminals. These are people who came to our country for a good life and opportunity. They're paying taxes. They want a better life for their kids. They haven't committed violent crimes, but they're being swept up intentionally by this administration because that's what they want to do, and that's where I think this administration has gone too far.' Separately, Cortez Masto said she fully supported any Democratic efforts to redistrict and create additional seats in Congress for her party the same way Republicans have done in Texas. 'Right now the process is Republicans are going to redistrict so that they can gain control. The Democrats should, too. Why wouldn't we fight to take control?' she said. 'Does the general public, do we all like the way that redistricting is played for that power? No, we don't, and we should change the laws, ultimately. But they're not changing now." "The Republicans aren't going to change them," she added. "Republicans are going to benefit, and so until we can gain control and win some of these races, we should be playing by the same rules that the Republicans are using against us and fight back.'
30-07-2025
- Politics
Democrats spar on Senate floor: Booker goes up against Cortez Masto, Klobuchar over police bills
A rare public display of Democrat-on-Democrat Senate infighting took place on the chamber floor Tuesday afternoon, with a heated Sen. Cory Booker laying into Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar over his objection to a package of bipartisan bills meant to support law enforcement and their families. During a back-and-forth that lasted almost an hour, an animated Booker called his colleagues "complicit" in President Donald Trump's agenda by passing the police-related legislation at a time when he said the White House is politicizing funding. He said the Department of Justice is currently withholding money from law enforcement agencies across the country, including his state of New Jersey. "That is complicity with an authoritarian leader who is trashing our Constitution. It's time for Democrats to have a backbone. It's time for us to fight. It's time for us to draw a line. And when it comes to the safety of my state being denied these grants, that's why I'm standing here,' Booker shouted on the floor. Booker's arguments quickly became a direct criticism of the current state of the Democratic Party as it tries to navigate Trump's second term. 'This is a call, folks. Democratic Party needs a wake-up call,' Booker said. 'This, to me, is the problem with Democrats in America right now ... We're willing to be complicit, to Donald Trump, to let this pass through when we have all the leverage,' he added. Cortez Masto, of Nevada, and Klobuchar, of Minnesota, shot back at Booker's accusations by insinuating that he was making his position known in public on the floor, despite the fact that they said he didn't show up for Judiciary Committee markups on the bills and that he also voted to pass the bills out of committee. 'These bills passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee weeks ago. And my colleague from New Jersey -- have respect for him -- he's on the committee, he voted to pass these bills. He had an opportunity at that time to present this amendment, this is the first time we're ever hearing about it,' Cortez Masto said. 'This is ridiculous. This is an attempt to kill all of these bills. I don't know why. I don't know why, because, at the end of the day, all of these bills are about bipartisan support,' she added. Klobuchar expressed a similar sentiment. 'One of the things I don't understand here, is that we have committees for a reason and we have hearings for a reason, and you can't do one thing on Police Week and not show up and not object and let these bills go through and then say another a few weeks later in a big speech on the floor," she said. Booker had tried to add an amendment to the package which would 'provide resources to law enforcement agencies with this important provision that safeguards these grants from politicization.' Cortez Masto called it a 'poison pill.' 'I agree -- President Trump's impoundment of funding, it is a serious concern. But tacking on a poison pill language to these bills won't guarantee any additional funding makes it to New Jersey, Nevada or any other state. Instead, what it will do … it will keep critical bills from passing in the first place,' Cortez Masto said. Booker shot back, 'Don't question my integrity. Don't question my motives. I'm standing for Jersey. I am standing for my police officers. I'm standing for the Constitution and I'm standing for what's right. And dear God if you want to come at me that way, you're going to have to take it up with me!' Eventually, the Senate did pass, by unanimous consent, the two bills that were part of the package. One, introduced by Cortez Masto and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, ensures that the surviving families of retired officers who are killed as a result of prior service remain eligible for benefits. The other requires the DOJ to develop and publish standards for quality trauma kits.
NBC News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Democrats clash over police funding in heated debate on Senate floor
The Senate floor devolved into a rare, intense clash between Democrats on Tuesday afternoon when Sen. Cory Booker objected to unanimously passing a bipartisan package of police funding bills. The unexpectedly heated debate concerned seven measures, previously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, designed to beef up resources and safety for first responders and law enforcement officers. 'What I am tired of is when the president of the United States of America violates the Constitution, trashes our norms and traditions, and what does the Democratic Party do? Comply? Allow him? Beg for scraps? No, I demand justice,' Booker, D-N.J., said on the Senate floor. "It's time for Democrats have a backbone. It's time for us to fight. It's time for us to draw lines," he added. Follow live politics coverage here Booker's opposition to the package met resistance from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., a law enforcement advocate in the Senate who was leading the package on the floor. Booker tried to amend the funding package, arguing its public safety grants would be used to reward law enforcement in states favored by President Donald Trump while punishing others. He said his amendment offered an important provision that would shield the grants 'from politicization.' "I say we reject this and, in a bipartisan way, that we demand and end this kind of constitutionally unjust carving up of the resources that we approve," Booker said of the legislative package. Cortez Masto rejected Booker's amendment, calling it a 'poison pill' since the legislation had already passed through a committee of which Booker is a member. 'I agree, withholding funding for law enforcement anywhere in the country, across the country, is just not acceptable,' Cortez Masto said. 'But I also agree that two wrongs don't make a right.' Booker said the contention that his amendment was a 'poison pill' was 'ridiculous.' He then blocked the package of bills, which all of the other Democrats in his caucus had agreed to pass unanimously with Republicans. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Democrats have engaged in 'a long dispute over this type of funding' that predated the Trump administration. She appeared to choke back emotion in defense of the legislation. 'I completely agree with Sen. Booker about what this administration is doing. But you can't just pick out a few bills that came out of a committee and say, 'I'm going to stop those,' and then allow for other bills that fund other parts of your budget in your state,' Klobuchar said. Cortez Masto and Klobuchar had worked alongside Republicans on the bills, which focused on providing additional protections, training and tools for officers and their families. Booker responded by sharply rejecting what he framed as assaults on his 'integrity' and 'motives.' 'I am standing for my police officers. I'm standing for the Constitution, and I'm standing for what's right. And dear God, if you want to come at me that way, you're gonna have to pick it up with me, because there's too much on the line right now in America,' he said. 'When are we going to stand together for principles that I just heard that were agreed with?' he added. Booker also took aim at the Democratic Party as a whole, saying, "This, to me, is the problem with Democrats in America right now is we're willing to be complicit to Donald Trump." "We are standing at a moment where our president is eviscerating the Constitution of the United States of America, and we're willing to go along with that today. No, no, not on my watch," he added. Cortez Masto later moved to unanimously pass just two of the seven bills, which were approved after Booker did not object. Those measures would include certain retired law enforcement officers in a death benefits program and establish standards for trauma kits. Booker said he supported them 'because they will apply to every officer in the United States of America. That's the way this body should work, and I have no objection whatsoever.' The public sparring provided an extraordinary glimpse into an internal debate among congressional Democrats as they struggle to navigate the need to legislate in the face of a Trump administration that has at times put up roadblocks to congressional directives. Cortez Masto, who was advocating for the passage of the package Booker objected to, also voted with Republicans to pass a short-term government funding package in March, a move seen as pragmatic by some but viewed as capitulation by many on the left looking for a fight in Trump's second term. In comments off the floor, Booker told reporters, 'There's a lot of us in this caucus that want to f-----g fight, and what's bothering me right now is we don't see enough fight in this caucus.' Booker has emerged as a key Democratic voice in opposition to the Trump administration. He set the record for the longest speech in Senate history this year in remarks that said the Trump administration presented a 'grave and urgent' threat to the country. Cortez Masto told NBC News after the floor debate that she "was disappointed" by some of Booker's rhetoric that Democrats are "not doing enough to take on Donald Trump." "I come from a swing state and have to beat back opponents to win my state and take on Donald Trump," Cortez Masto said. "So it really is to me about how we work together to keep our communities safe and pass bipartisan, unanimous legislation that really came out of this committee, and that's where our focus should be." Zoë Richards Frank Thorp V Gabrielle Khoriaty and Brennan Leach contributed.
The Hill
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Senate GOP blocks push to restore gambling losses deduction
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to restore the 100 percent tax deduction for gambling losses after it was cut down to 90 percent in President Trump's massive tax and spending package that became law last week. Cortez Masto attempted to restore the full deduction via unanimous consent on the floor, arguing that the provision, which many Senate Republicans were unaware of until the entire bill became law, would harm her state immensely. Las Vegas is known as the 'gambling capital of the world.' 'It will do irreparable harm to our nation's gaming industry if it takes effect — especially in Nevada,' she said on the floor, adding that it will 'disincentivize' gamblers, pointing to those competing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this week. 'It will move major events that drive our economy offshore and push wagering into illegal markets, and it could punish tourists who come to Vegas to win big,' she added. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) objected to her effort, but also sought to amend it before passing it once again. Young noted that he is actually supportive of Cortez Masto's bill to restore the full deduction, but said that he wanted a carveout from the endowment tax for religious institutions. The provision was initially stricken from the 'big, beautiful bill' by the Senate parliamentarian. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) eventually objected to the amended proposal. 'The Republican bill is full of special carveouts for some groups, new taxes on others,' he said. 'The fact is when you rush a process like this this way and cram in all of these policies that you haven't really thought about, you risk some consequences for people back home, and that is what is going on here and this attempt by our colleague to pass this special tax carveout for just one institution.' The University of Notre Dame is part of Indiana, which Young represents. 'It is a shame we cannot pass this common sense fix because Republicans want to weigh it down with unrelated measures that they voted to support,' Cortez Masto said, adding that she still hopes to get the revision across the finish line eventually.
