Cortez Masto breaks with party in key vote as GOP spending plan passes Senate

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto joined with nine other Democrats Friday to thwart a Democratic filibuster aimed at blocking a Republican stopgap funding bill and forcing a government shutdown.

The Senate had until Friday night to vote on a six-month funding measure to avoid a shutdown that would impact airport travel and close Nevada’s national parks. For the resolution to be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk, at least eight Democratic senators had to support the bill and block a Democratic filibuster that would have forced a shutdown.

Cortez Masto joined Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and a small group of other Democrats in a procedural vote that blocked their own party’s filibuster.

The final passage of the funding bill — which required only 50 votes — was approved later Friday nearly on party lines in a 54 to 46 vote. Cortez Masto joined her party in voting against it, though her and her nine Democratic colleagues’ decision to thwart the Democratic filibuster had already assured the spending plan’s approval.

Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada voted for the filibuster and against the continuing resolution, which passed the Republican-led House earlier this week on a 217-213 party line vote. Nevada’s Democratic House members voted against the resolution, with Rep. Mark Amodei, the state’s only Republican House member, voting for it.

In a Friday statement, Rosen called the continuing resolution “irresponsible” and “hyper-partisan,” arguing that Trump and Republicans in Congress are using their power to “help Elon Musk continue to systematically dismantle basic government functions,” such as veterans’ health care and aviation safety.

“Funding the government requires actually working together across party lines to find common ground, and the Republicans in power failed to do so,” she said in a statement.

Cortez Masto said a government shutdown could cause more harm than the continuing resolution.

“A government shutdown would be devastating for the American people,” she said in a Friday statement. “It would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and nurses to work without pay.”

The last government shutdown cost the American economy $11 billion and harmed workers, she said, and a shutdown would give Trump and Musk “more power to cherry-pick who is an essential employee, who they want to fire, and what agencies they want to shutter.”

Cortez Masto and the other nine Democratic senators’ break from the party sparked backlash among Congressional Democrats on Friday, exposing division among the party, including from Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev.

“The constituents I represent need Democrats to stand up to this rogue administration,” he said in a statement. “What they got from Senate Democrats today was capitulation instead.”

Nevada’s senior senator noted her decision was not easy, saying she is outraged by Trump’s, Musk’s and congressional Republicans’ actions, which she called reckless.

“I refuse to hand them a shutdown where they would have free reign to cause more chaos and harm,” Cortez Masto said in the statement.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.