Nevada’s Cortez Masto explains her requirements to vote for DHS funding – Las Vegas Sun News & Commentary by DrWeb

February 18, 2026

Nevada’s Cortez Masto explains her requirements to vote for DHS funding

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., speaks during a news conference at the East Las Vegas Community Center Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Cortez Masto explained her vote against the Department of Homeland Security funding bill and her efforts to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Photo by: Steve Marcus

By Kyle Chouinard (contact), Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 | 2 a.m.

Cortez Masto Pushes For ICE Reform

Sun Editor’s note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., joined community leaders Tuesday morning to emphasize the local fear caused by immigration enforcement activity and that she would not vote for a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security without “commonsense” safeguards.

“It’s hurting our businesses, it’s hurting our families and it’s hurting our way of life,” Cortez Masto said during a news conference at the East Las Vegas Community Center. “Everyone is seeing the abuses being committed in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, and folks in Nevada are feeling it too: the anxiety, the lawlessness, the increase in arrests of law-abiding immigrants.”

DrWeb’s Commentary: Below is a summary output from Google about this senator voting with Republicans, and helping Trump. I voted for her, never again. Unfortunately, she isn’t up to replace until later: “Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is up for reelection in November 2028. She is a Democratic U.S. Senator from Nevada who was last elected in 2022 to a six-year term that expires in January 2029.” (Google)

Democrats and Nevada needs a strong, consistent, truthful senator, not her. I stand against her. She went rogue, against Democrats, and lost my support. Below is my image from that surrender, and then the text commentary by Google. And search for the old news on her support for Republicans, like this one:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/8-democrats-voted-with-republicans-on-a-shutdown-deal-heres-what-theyve-said-about-why
–DrWeb

Senator Cortez Masto voted with Republicans to support Trump administration priorities primarily in two areas during the 2025–2026 term: averting government shutdowns and confirming select Cabinet nominees. [1, 2]

Detailed summary of these events:
1. Government Funding & Shutdown Votes (September – November 2025)

Senator Cortez Masto broke with the majority of her party approximately 14 to 15 times to vote for Republican-led spending bills. Her decisive votes helped keep the federal government open during President Trump’s term.

September 30, 2025: She was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote YES on a Republican-backed continuing resolution (CR) to avert a government shutdown.
- Reasoning: She argued that a shutdown would disproportionately hurt Nevada families and the economy, stating she would not “hand even more power to this reckless administration” by allowing the government to close.
November 9–11, 2025: She voted YES to end the ongoing government shutdown, splitting from Democratic leadership who wanted to withhold votes to leverage an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits.
- Result: Her vote provided the necessary bipartisan support to pass the GOP-negotiated funding deal. [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

2. Trump Cabinet Confirmations (2025)

As of late 2025, Senator Cortez Masto had voted to confirm 5 of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, while opposing the majority (17).

Doug Burgum (Secretary of the Interior): In January 2025, she voted YES to advance Burg’s nomination.
- Reasoning: She cited his willingness to balance public land management and his understanding of Western issues, despite his support for oil and gas expansion.
Other Confirmations: While she opposed controversial picks like Energy Secretary Chris Wright, she joined Republicans in confirming roughly 20% of Trump’s initial cabinet selections to ensure the government could function. [12, 13, 14, 15]

3. Historical Context (First Trump Term)

During President Trump’s first term (2017–2021), she also crossed the aisle for specific “safe” nominees but generally opposed his legislative agenda.

Confirmed: Mark Esper (Secretary of Defense) and Jovita Carranza (Small Business Administrator).
Opposed: She consistently voted NO on major Trump-era legislation, including the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. [17, 18]

AI responses may include mistakes. Noted: DrWeb.

[1] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/09/30/cortez-masto-sides-with-republicans-in-shutdown-fight-for-second-time-this-year/

[2] https://www.npr.org/2025/10/01/nx-s1-5559633/sen-cortez-masto-explains-why-she-broke-ranks-with-democrats-on-shutdown-vote

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwsZaCDtP_4

[4] https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/07/nevada-cortez-masto-federal-shutdown/87153331007/

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rDjjmYWT64

[6] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/09/30/cortez-masto-sides-with-republicans-in-shutdown-fight-for-second-time-this-year/

[7] https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/cortez-masto-splits-from-dems-on-spending-vote-as-us-heads-to-first-shutdown-in-almost-7-years

[8] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/09/30/cortez-masto-sides-with-republicans-in-shutdown-fight-for-second-time-this-year/

[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/us/politics/democrats-shutdown-vote.html

[10] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/09/30/cortez-masto-sides-with-republicans-in-shutdown-fight-for-second-time-this-year/

[11] https://nevadacurrent.com/briefs/cortez-masto-splits-votes-on-trumps-energy-and-natural-resources-nominees/