Cortez Masto says she’ll help advance funding bill

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) says she’ll vote to advance Republicans’ government funding bill — reluctantly.

“A government shutdown would be devastating for the American people. It would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and nurses to work without pay. Shutting down the government gives President Trump and Elon Musk even more power to cherry-pick who is an essential employee, who they want to fire, and what agencies they want to shutter. And a shutdown would force federal courts to slow work on lawsuits against this administration’s illegal actions. The last government shutdown cost the American economy $11 billion and thousands of hardworking Americans were harmed. I cannot vote for that,” she said.

“This was not an easy decision. I’m outraged by the reckless actions of President Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in control of Congress, so I refuse to hand them a shutdown where they would have free reign to cause more chaos and harm. I’m focused on ensuring our veterans, seniors, and working families get their benefits and opposing Republican’s billionaire tax cut that is going to gut Medicaid,” she added.

Cortez Masto’s decision is likely welcome news for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said he would also vote to advance the bill but has seen more and more lawmakers in his caucus announce their opposition as the vote nears.

Currently, 52 of the 53 Senate Republicans are expected to support cloture, while only three Democrats have publicly said they will support cloture. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the first to announce his support, followed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday and Cortez Masto on Friday.

The Senate will vote on cloture Friday for the spending bill to keep the government funded at current levels through the end of September, with $8 billion more in defense spending and $13 billion in non-defense spending cuts. The bill will need 60 votes to invoke cloture, with a succeeding vote on the legislation only needing a simple majority.