LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -- Democratic Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo are pointing fingers at each other’s political parties as Lombardo pushes Rosen to vote with other Democrats in reopening the federal government.
Rosen, who has not joined a handful of Democratic senators in supporting Republicans' plan to reopen the government, has said expired health care tax credits are a sticking point. Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has voted with Republicans to reopen the government.
“I want this government shutdown to end, which is why I urge Governor Lombardo to push Donald Trump and his own party in Washington to work in a bipartisan way to reopen the government and prevent a massive spike in health care costs for Nevadans,” Rosen said in a statement Wednesday. “Republicans control Congress and the White House, and if they fail to extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits, nearly 40,000 Nevadans are projected to lose their health coverage, and every Nevada family will see costs go up.”
In a letter to Rosen dated Wednesday, Lombardo urged the senator to join Cortez Masto and Republicans.
In the letter, Lombardo said he was concerned about nearly 500,000 Nevadans losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding benefits in November. Nevada covers part of the funding, and Lombardo warned “gaps in federal funding” would result in the loss.
In a call with reporters Thursday, Rosen slammed Republicans and Lombardo for supporting the president’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which cut health care coverage for tens of thousands of Nevadans and threatened other social programs, including food assistance, she said.
“Where was [the governor] standing up to this administration when it comes to protecting Nevadans' health care?” Rosen said Thursday. “I'm glad if he wants to push, this is his party, this is his president, this is his shutdown. Let him talk to his president, who he's defending, and tell him how he's hurting Nevada.”
In addition to pushing Democrats to vote with them, Republicans are pushing members of the other party to vote to supplement the food-assistance programs. In a letter on Thursday, Rosen urged U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to release money for SNAP, so benefits do not lapse.
A vote on Thursday in the Senate to pay essential workers failed. Thursday marked Day 23 of the shutdown.