Senate Democrats’ focus for the next three weeks? Judges, judges, judges. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has vowed to use his remaining time controlling the floor to fill judicial vacancies, adding to the 220 that the upper chamber has confirmed through Joe Biden’s presidency.
Senate Republicans are throwing roadblocks in their way — forcing full roll calls to proceed with votes, for example — but have been hampered by absences. Therefore, Democrats have been able to confirm numerous judges, and Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) have voted yes on the more than 20 judicial vacancy-related votes the Senate has held since the election, from ending debate on various nominees to their actual confirmations.
But beyond judges, both senators are hoping to get some of their own bills through the Senate too.
“We hope that some of the bipartisan bills that, of course, I've been on, and others that have overwhelmingly bipartisan support — [that] we can get those passed as well,” Rosen said on a call with reporters.
Cortez Masto already scored a win in that department, with legislation she introduced reauthorizing funding for Alzheimer’s research passing the full Senate on Thursday via unanimous consent. That bill now heads to the president’s desk for funding.
Rosen highlighted the Small Business Childcare Investment Act, a bill she introduced with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), to allow nonprofits — such as YMCAs, churches, synagogues or senior centers — opening child care facilities to have access to funding from the Small Business Administration, as an example of a bipartisan bill she’ll push to pass in the lame duck.
The lame duck period also provides the senators with their last opportunities to make requests of the outgoing president — important, given that many constituents are calling on Biden to Trump-proof the federal government with new regulations or policies, and that the next president will be far less inclined to listen to feedback from Democratic senators.
Some of that will include ensuring that entities in Nevada receive obligated funds from federal programs. Rosen, for example, has already called on the Commerce Department to stand ready to receive the state’s application for the next round of broadband funding, and ensure it receives the full $416 million it has been promised from the program — a goal made more urgent by a Trump administration serious about cutting the federal budget.
The Nevada Angle
Senators’ most Nevada-centric priority is, of course, their lands bills, which have been a major part of their answer to the high housing costs weighing on Nevadans. Each passed out of committee on Tuesday, meaning they could receive votes on the Senate floor — if only Schumer can find the time.
These bills will die if they do not pass by Dec. 20. The likeliest vehicle for passage would be some sort of public lands package, combining the smorgasbord of outstanding lands legislation that passed committee on Tuesday.
Such a bill would be an exciting note to go out on for Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), the Energy & Natural Resources chair who is retiring at the end of this term — but given that judges are the priority, and a defense bill and funding bill are required, the clock may run out.