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to Raging Moderates. I'm Jessica Tarla, and today

1:00

I'm thrilled to be joined by Nevada Senator

1:02

Catherine Cortez Masto. She's the honorary chair of

1:04

the Mod Squad. That's a group of moderate

1:07

senators who are all about modernizing how they

1:09

connect with voters, standing up to political extremes,

1:11

and actually getting things done for the American

1:13

people. She's been really outspoken

1:15

lately about the doge -led cuts hitting critical

1:18

programs in Nevada, like funding for

1:20

immunizations and mental health services. She

1:23

also helped lead a group of senators who

1:25

wrote to Health Secretary RFK Jr. raising alarms

1:27

about cuts to head start programs. And

1:29

she's one of the key voices pushing to

1:32

re -center the Democratic Party around common sense

1:34

and real human connection, near

1:36

and dear to mine and Scott's heart. Welcome

1:38

to the program, Senator. Oh, Jessica,

1:40

it's great to join you. Okay, now I don't

1:42

want to offend you because this is your show.

1:45

Okay. Let me just say one thing. It's Nevada.

1:47

Oh my god, I'm so sorry. My Nevadans, if

1:49

I didn't correct you and they were listening to

1:52

this, they would turn it when I go home.

1:54

I would never be able to go back. Your

1:56

next town hall would be a hellscape because you

1:58

didn't tell me. Okay, so Nevada. Nevada,

2:00

that's it. Nevada. Okay. I'm

2:02

going to try really hard, but this New Yorker

2:05

is probably going to struggle. Okay.

2:08

I wanted to start with kind

2:10

of big picture. This

2:13

was the 100, marked 100

2:15

days of the Trump 2

2:17

.0 presidency this week. What

2:19

are your top -line thoughts on how it's been going

2:21

and also how it's been affecting people in your state?

2:24

Well, I can tell you, it's the economy. It

2:26

absolutely is about the economy for people in

2:29

Nevada. I was home just recently. I'm back

2:31

in DC working now, but I was home

2:33

for two weeks. I was in the northern

2:35

part of the state, the southern part of

2:37

the state, our rural communities. It's

2:40

not the economy. And people feeling

2:42

squeezed right now with high prices still.

2:44

Household costs still high, groceries prices still

2:47

high, including our small businesses who are

2:49

struggling, right? I had an opportunity

2:51

to sit down and have several roundtables with some

2:53

of our small businesses and visit with them. And

2:56

they're afraid that they won't be able to keep

2:58

their doors open much longer. It is

3:01

a challenge right now, and it's unfortunate

3:03

because this is a president who said

3:05

on day one, if you remember, I

3:07

think he was in Osmond, Montana when

3:09

he said, We're going to lower costs

3:11

on day one. going to lower costs

3:13

for families across this country. And that

3:15

is not what's happening right now because

3:17

of his policies. We're just seeing this

3:19

economy really it's almost in free fall.

3:22

And in American families and hardworking

3:24

families and small businesses are suffering

3:27

because of it right now. It

3:29

didn't seem to me like there

3:31

was this opportunity he could have

3:33

just taken to basically use the

3:36

bones of the Biden economy and ride

3:38

that and make some little changes. You

3:40

want to go harder on China with

3:42

tariffs, understandable Biden even, you know,

3:44

three times, threefold increase what Trump had done

3:47

there. But really seems like tariffs and immigration

3:49

to some degree, which I want to get

3:51

to, has kind of created this free fall

3:53

that you're speaking about. And

3:55

the AG in Nevada, is it, did I

3:57

do it right? That's right. Yeah. Okay,

4:00

Sue, the administration over the tariffs.

4:03

Can you talk a little bit

4:05

about that and some more, I

4:07

guess, small business -wise, but just

4:09

how people are feeling about the

4:11

tariffs in particular? Yeah, so

4:13

let me jump back just because you

4:16

bring up a great point. Going into

4:18

this year, the economy was growing, right?

4:20

We were expanding. Our economy was expanding.

4:22

We had good unemployment numbers. We're down.

4:25

People weren't... feel great. I mean, we

4:27

still had to address the household costs

4:29

and other things, but we focused on

4:32

some lowering some health care costs and

4:34

the economy looked good. And you're right.

4:36

This administration also had to do and

4:38

take the bones and continue moving forward

4:40

and be targeted about how they wanted

4:42

to address shrinking the government, how

4:45

they wanted to address maybe addressing some

4:47

of the waste, fraud and abuse that

4:49

is out there, and how they want

4:52

to impose tariffs. There's a

4:54

great way to target tariffs, and let me just

4:56

give you a perfect example. In

4:58

Nevada, if you come to Nevada, and I've worked

5:00

really hard to do this, to make sure that

5:02

we can lean into this clean energy economy, because

5:05

it has created jobs in my state. Union

5:07

jobs, which are fantastic. We've

5:09

leaned into solar and wind and geothermal.

5:12

One thing we have leaned

5:14

into, though, was lithium ion

5:16

batteries, manufacturing, recycling.

5:19

and then storage around batteries, all of

5:21

that research, all of the dollars that

5:24

came into my state when the federal

5:26

government and the work that we have

5:28

done from inflation reduction act to chips

5:30

and science act, all of those laws

5:32

that we pass, including the bipartisan infrastructure.

5:35

brought that money in to move us

5:37

in a direction so we are leading

5:39

in this country around that technology. It

5:41

is great. And we should continue. And

5:44

he also had to do a step

5:46

in and continue to move in that

5:48

direction. But already, because he doesn't like

5:50

electric vehicles, he is already

5:52

cutting the funding to some of even

5:54

the battery manufacturing and the battery storage.

5:57

And that is the problem. Is why aren't

6:00

we targeted? Because I know in the last

6:02

administration, working with them, we targeted China. so

6:04

that they couldn't take advantage of the battery

6:06

manufacturing in their country, and we could bring

6:08

it back here to the United States. That's

6:11

where the tariffs worked. We want to protect

6:13

our jobs here. We want to bring manufacturing

6:15

in this space and the new technology. That's

6:18

how you use targeted tariffs. When you

6:20

do blanket tariffs, too many

6:22

people suffer, including our small businesses

6:25

that are suffering right now. And at

6:27

the end of the day, you know

6:29

this, a tariff is a tax ultimately

6:31

on consumers. And as I was talking

6:33

to my small businesses, because they're seeing

6:35

the higher costs, they have

6:37

to make a choice. Can they keep their doors

6:39

open or do they pass that cost on to

6:41

the American consumer? And too many

6:43

are going to be passing the cost off, quite

6:45

honestly, because they want to stay open. They

6:48

are providing an essential service and employing

6:50

people in the community. It's this cycle

6:53

where everybody's getting wrapped up into this

6:55

chaos and uncertainty that this administration is

6:57

opposing based on the policies that they're

7:00

implementing right now, and it's just having

7:02

a devastating impact in Nevada. I

7:04

don't want to get too much into the

7:06

psychology of it, but it is interesting to

7:09

me, and each administration is guilty of this,

7:11

that they come in and it's like they

7:13

have such an aversion to the last guy.

7:15

that they just try to undo everything. And

7:17

I thought that that was really the case

7:19

with border policy under the Biden administration. And

7:21

then we had a surge going up to

7:23

250 ,000 people crossing on a monthly basis,

7:26

which got toned down when the last year

7:28

he was in office. But that was obviously

7:30

about an axe to grind with Trump. And

7:32

it feels as though Trump can't live with

7:34

the fact that Biden did a pretty good

7:36

job managing an economy, especially through a global

7:38

health pandemic like that. And do you see

7:41

any rationale for what he's doing besides partisan

7:44

And do you feel like there's any

7:46

chance that this is going to stop

7:48

before we have total destruction? Well, let's

7:50

talk about its partisan spite and retribution.

7:52

Don't forget there's a lot of retribution

7:54

in this that to me and certainly

7:56

with him Yeah, and as a former

7:58

attorney general of my state who respects

8:00

the rule of law and that law

8:02

should be nonpartisan and not be part

8:04

of a political retribution He

8:06

is doing that now. So yes,

8:09

there isn't concern about how he

8:11

is and his policies in total

8:13

are going to have a negative

8:15

impact long term, not just around

8:17

the economy, around a rule of

8:19

law, around the essential services that

8:21

really at the end of the

8:23

day people are relying on. Here's

8:25

the fascinating thing, Jessica, I know

8:27

in my state, most people don't

8:29

even know what federal government does for them. They

8:31

really don't. Until there is a service

8:33

or essential program that they rely on,

8:35

or benefit that is taken away. Otherwise,

8:38

they really don't understand how complex it is. Now,

8:40

I'll be the first to tell you, is there

8:43

too much bureaucracy? Is there too much regulation? Is

8:45

there a way that we can streamline

8:48

it? Absolutely. We have to. And I've

8:50

seen it. That's my fight at the

8:52

federal government is to get rid of

8:54

some of the bureaucracy and streamline. But

8:57

there's a smart and targeted way

8:59

to do it in a thoughtful

9:01

way that doesn't burn down the

9:04

entire house and break everything. Right

9:06

and so that's what we have

9:08

right now and because that is

9:10

happening. I am seeing in my

9:12

state listen I Susan Collins and

9:14

I when I first got to

9:17

the Senate fought for federal dollars

9:19

for Alzheimer's research and then together

9:21

we passed legislation called the bold

9:23

act to continue to incorporate and

9:25

identify Centers for excellence around that

9:27

research and support for caregivers for

9:30

Alzheimer's Under this administration, they just

9:32

eliminated the entire program and all the funding

9:34

with it. I mean, it

9:36

just does not make sense. And there's

9:38

too many people that are suffering because

9:40

of it. And that's why what is

9:42

happening here, I see and feel in

9:45

my state, and I'm a swing state.

9:47

People in my state voted for Donald Trump, but

9:50

they're hurting right now, and they just

9:52

want people to come together in a

9:54

common sense way and actually solve problems

9:56

that they're dealing with and not add

9:59

to it. Yeah, that brings me to

10:01

my next question and something that has

10:03

been a hot topic for Democrats these

10:05

first three and three a half months.

10:07

Like how do you respond? What is

10:09

what does that look like? Because you

10:11

have AOC and Bernie, they're out on

10:13

tour right and getting 30 ,000 people

10:15

to come out in Idaho. You have

10:17

the Chris Murphy's of the world, Cory

10:19

Booker 25 hours on the floor. How

10:21

can Jeffries and Cory Booker, you know,

10:24

on the steps of the Capitol building?

10:26

What, as someone who does represent folks that

10:29

voted for you and for Jackie Rosen and

10:31

for Donald Trump, what do you see as

10:33

the best approach for us to be able

10:35

to fight back in a constructive way? Yeah,

10:37

I can say, if you were just talking

10:39

about the Democrats, I think everybody,

10:42

the Democrat, they're so diverse in the

10:44

sense that we have the left side

10:46

of the party and the moderates. I'm

10:48

a moderate and moderates, right? And there's

10:50

going to be enough room for all

10:52

of us. to reach out to our

10:54

voters, to reach out to constituents in

10:56

my state, my swing voters, everybody

10:59

that is suffering to talk to them. And

11:01

it may look differently, right?

11:03

For me, it is going home

11:05

and actually meeting people where they

11:07

live and talking to them. or

11:10

going on local podcasts. I just,

11:12

we have a local Filipino podcast

11:14

that I just was on because

11:16

we have a large Filipino population

11:18

in Nevada and talking to that

11:20

community. You just, for me,

11:22

it's going and showing up, including in

11:25

our rural communities, where I know they

11:27

voted for Donald Trump, but engaging. And

11:29

it's not just showing up at the

11:31

time of election, it's always showing up.

11:34

And then following up. And then working

11:36

with them on solutions and solving problems

11:38

that they deal with and bringing them

11:40

into the conversation. So my Nevadans constituents,

11:43

I pull them to conversations all the

11:45

time. I can perfect example.

11:47

Chuck Grassley and I are working on

11:49

a piece of legislation to address Xilazine

11:52

that is being cut with fentanyl right

11:54

now and to give law enforcement the

11:56

tools they need to hold those traffickers

11:58

accountable. Xilazine is an

12:00

important drug for our veterinarians. First, people that

12:02

I went to in my state are veterinarians.

12:05

Cattlemen's Association, our farmers and ranchers, they're in

12:07

our rural part of the state to say,

12:09

hey, how do we pass legislation that doesn't

12:11

impede your access to this drug? But

12:14

at the same time, we can hold those

12:16

who are utilizing it in an illicit manner,

12:18

hold them accountable. That's how

12:20

we do it. You get out and

12:22

you talk to everyone. And I think

12:24

that's going to be important for many

12:26

of my colleagues to understand. Listen.

12:30

We don't have a president right now. We don't

12:32

have a leader of the Democratic Party. And we

12:34

did in 2018. Remember, we did in 2018 and

12:36

we still won, right? So the

12:38

point is we all have a role to

12:40

play. There is so much

12:42

happening, Jessica, right now. And the first 100

12:45

days, oh my gosh, this has been overloaded

12:47

by this. Like years. Yeah. My gosh. And

12:49

I tell people, it's only been 100 days.

12:52

And it's just been overloaded by this

12:54

administration because they had a plan going

12:56

in. And so there's a lot for

12:58

us to do, but we have to

13:00

be doing it. We have to use

13:02

our oversight role in Congress. We have

13:04

to push back where we can in

13:06

that oversight role and shine a light

13:08

for the American public on what is

13:10

going on, because most people don't know,

13:12

particularly in administration that would prefer to

13:14

do this all in the dark of

13:16

night. When he fired all of the

13:18

inspector generals, it was in the middle

13:20

of the night. Nobody knew. So

13:22

part of this is, no, we got to make sure

13:24

the public knows what's happening. And then we got to

13:26

show up and talk to them. You

13:29

know, it just, I can't stress that enough.

13:31

I know as a swing state senator that

13:33

they expect that kind of conversation and that

13:35

understanding. And I think that's where, as Democrats,

13:37

there's enough room for all of us. And

13:39

we all have got to figure out how

13:41

we engage and shine a light on what

13:43

is happening. And then finally, let me just

13:46

say this, Jessica. We are

13:48

all going to be united around two

13:50

things. Fighting for our hard

13:52

-working Americans. but at

13:55

the same time pushing back against

13:57

this administration that wants too much

13:59

power and is engaging in government,

14:01

federal government overreach. I think there's

14:03

a commonality for Democrats in that

14:05

sense, and we've got to stay

14:07

focused on what we're trying to

14:09

achieve. Do you think one is

14:11

more important than the other, the

14:13

fighting for working class people? Yeah, I think

14:15

they're just both important in what's happening right

14:17

now. I don't think you can. That's

14:20

the rub here. I think I think

14:22

from many of my constituents, there are

14:25

issues that they care about more than

14:27

others. And I understand it. Some are

14:29

more emotional about the state of our

14:31

democracy. Some are more emotional about the

14:34

loss of dollars to help mental health.

14:36

This is my focus as well. So

14:40

everybody is going to be emotional in

14:42

fighting on an issue that matters to

14:44

them. But as United States senators representing

14:46

the full state, we have to be

14:48

fighting on all. Levels of it

14:50

and that's why our oversight is so

14:52

important and that's why what's happening in

14:54

the courts People don't even understand what's

14:56

happening in the courts is just as

14:58

important There are there are people have

15:00

no idea until I tell them right

15:02

now There are over 200 court cases

15:04

that have been filed against this administration

15:06

Including like you said from my state

15:09

from my attorney general general Ford Yeah,

15:11

we had Mark Elias on the podcast

15:13

and democracy docket is conducting a lot

15:15

of those lawsuits and Mark

15:17

was making the case that it's really going

15:19

to be the rule of law out of

15:21

courts that end up saving us and all

15:24

of this. So you just got to keep

15:26

filing, especially because they are, to your point,

15:28

doing so much under the cover of darkness,

15:30

like Mike Johnson putting poison pills in this

15:32

reconciliation pill that says that Trump can't be

15:34

curbed in terms of his power to tariff,

15:36

even though that that's foundational to America. Like

15:39

Boston Tea Party was about this problem. That's

15:42

right. And that's why, you know, when I

15:44

talk to voters and talk to them about

15:46

what they care about and say, yes, we're

15:48

fighting there and we're also fighting here, there's

15:51

a lot at stake. But let me just

15:53

say at the end of the day, yes,

15:56

it does come down to the economy and making

15:58

sure people's lives are better. Fighting

16:00

for those families and small businesses, but also

16:02

standing up for the rule of law. That's

16:05

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quote.com. slash Spotify. Spotify. Today.

17:13

You seem very calm, so it's

17:15

actually perfect that you're the new

17:18

chair of the Mod Squad. Can

17:20

you tell us about this coalition

17:22

and, you know, some of the

17:24

key members and what kind of

17:26

impact you hope to have in

17:28

2026, 2028 and beyond? Yeah,

17:31

thank you for asking. So the Mod Squad

17:33

is... Which is just a great name, by

17:35

the way, when I heard about it. I

17:37

was like, this is, we could brand the

17:40

crap out of this. Like, it's going to

17:42

be great. I don't want to say this,

17:44

but in my age, it reminds me of

17:46

the old show mod squad. So

17:48

I was going to bring it up. If you're

17:50

around my age, everybody starts talking about the actors

17:52

and actresses from the old show. And I said,

17:54

no, no, it's not that. It's a little something

17:56

different. But here's what really is the focus is

17:58

for moderate Democrats like me from swing states. The

18:01

goal here is to really focus on

18:04

how we elevate the voices

18:06

of those constituents, of those Americans who

18:08

are there, who are usually not heard,

18:10

because, you know, I just say in

18:12

mainstream media, usually you hear from the

18:15

far left and the far right, but

18:17

you don't hear a lot about the

18:19

moderates, because the moderates are just, we're

18:21

common sense. Let's solve the problems, let's

18:24

get it done, let's talk to our

18:26

constituents, let's move forward. Now the goal

18:28

is with the support of ModSquad, which

18:30

is an organization that encourages really

18:33

moderate senators to work together to

18:35

amplify the voices of not just

18:37

the senators but the people that

18:39

we represent back home to convene

18:41

us around policy issues that are

18:43

common sense that we can work

18:45

across the aisle with some of

18:47

our Republican colleagues to solve problems,

18:49

that's really what it's about. And

18:52

that's why I am pleased to kind

18:54

of step up as the honorary chair.

18:56

But there's about 20 of my colleagues

18:59

that are a part of this, including

19:01

Ruben Gallego and Alyssa Slotkin. We've got

19:03

Gene Shaheen, Mark Warner. So if you

19:05

would think about the Senate and the

19:07

moderates that are in the Senate, pretty

19:10

much those senators, those are

19:12

the ones that are really the voices

19:14

we're trying to amplify more of. How

19:17

do you make political

19:19

centrism sexy? There's

19:22

the winning component, and I find winning

19:25

sexy. I much prefer it when we're

19:27

in charge. But I've always

19:29

felt as a moderate person that

19:31

that is a major challenge. The

19:34

results, right? We filled that

19:37

pothole. That's exciting, and that

19:39

makes your life better. But it doesn't

19:41

lead newscasts, like you were saying, and

19:43

the way the cable news ecosphere works,

19:45

and I know this working in conservative

19:47

media. They're playing clips of

19:49

AOC, right? They are not playing clips

19:51

of you being totally normal, right? Talking

19:54

about your connection with the Trump voters

19:56

in your state and making sure that

19:58

you're satisfying what they wanted from him

20:00

and also what they wanted from you.

20:02

So how do you think Democrats can

20:04

attack that issue? Yeah, it's

20:06

a great question. And if we want

20:08

an indicator, right? Like you said, winning

20:10

is an indicator. Well, if

20:12

you look back at the last election,

20:15

Actually moderates was all you guys we

20:17

have performed and if you look at

20:19

the seven swing states of the senators

20:21

and governors out of the 21 positions

20:24

We won what 15 of them so

20:26

moderates outperform in these states and that's

20:28

that's a winning indicator But the other

20:31

side to that is just in general

20:33

people need to understand. I think there's

20:35

more modest Across the country that are

20:37

looking for this common sense. Let's just

20:40

let's just work together. Let's find solutions,

20:42

let's make sure everybody else's lives better.

20:44

How do we work towards that goal?

20:47

And let me just give you a perfect

20:49

example. I was coming home, I was in

20:51

the Reno airport, and I was actually leaving

20:53

Reno and heading to Las Vegas. And

20:56

a constituent saw me, said, hey, Senator, Senator,

20:58

is that you? And I said, yeah, how

21:00

are you? And he said, I just want

21:02

you to know, I'm one of your constituents,

21:04

and I support you. But I'm also one

21:06

of your constituents that voted for Donald Trump,

21:08

but also voted for Jackie Rosen. And

21:11

that is not unusual in swing states

21:14

like ours, right? And so

21:16

those are the type of, and that's

21:18

what he said, I just want you

21:20

ready to work together. I just want

21:23

the common sense, solve problems. How do

21:25

we, how do we move forward? And

21:27

that's, that really is where I'm coming

21:29

from in a lot of our moderates.

21:32

And that's why our voices need to

21:34

be heard because it's a whole constituency

21:36

that is out there that just wants

21:38

people to solve problems at the end

21:41

of the day. But it does feel

21:43

like this house on fire moment. Right.

21:45

And I've heard that criticism of plain

21:47

spoken moderate representatives say you are not

21:50

channeling the level of anger and anxiety

21:52

that I have when my local head

21:54

start has been closed down. My cousin

21:56

lost their job. You know,

21:59

we have someone taking over the

22:01

public school system who has no

22:03

respect for public education in this

22:05

country. And I'm scared. So what

22:07

do you say to that kind

22:09

of Democrat or independent or moderate

22:11

Republican who would be supportive of

22:13

you about moderate's ability to meet

22:15

that moment. Yeah, I would say

22:18

don't confuse the ability and the

22:20

willingness to work across the aisle

22:22

and find common sense solutions with

22:24

the idea that somehow we are

22:26

not outraged and willing to fight

22:28

back and push back and take

22:30

action when necessary. Listen,

22:32

I am an attorney by trade. I

22:35

was attorney general fighting for people and

22:37

their rights and at the end of

22:39

the day what is happening to women's

22:42

rights across the country is just outrageous

22:44

to me and the fact that women

22:46

have lesser rights now than they did

22:49

right um 50 years for the last

22:51

50 years it's crazy and the fact

22:53

that they are taking away um essential

22:55

programs that we need in health care

22:58

and mental health let me just say

23:00

i i'm been a senator that have

23:02

fought for mental health resources in my

23:05

state for the last six years and

23:07

we brought in over a billion dollars

23:09

from the federal government across the country

23:12

and millions of dollars into Nevada to

23:14

address mental health challenges that we were

23:16

seeing because of COVID -19 and even

23:19

before COVID -19. And this administration has

23:21

cut those programs. I

23:23

mean, it's just crazy me. I fought for

23:25

peer counseling programs. And so to me, that's

23:27

why the outrage is absolutely there. But part

23:29

of this is I know I have to

23:31

be strategic and smart about my fights and

23:34

taking them on. The big

23:36

ones are key. Mental health to me

23:38

is key. Women's rights, that's key. Rule

23:40

of law, absolutely. I'm not

23:42

going to back down and that's why

23:44

even in the oversight hearings when RFK

23:46

Jr. came before me, I was taking

23:48

him on. There's no way this guy has

23:50

no ability, no reason, no experience and

23:52

he should not be in that position. He

23:55

has no idea what he is doing

23:57

and he is harming people at the

23:59

end the day. So now my goal is

24:01

going to be to show how he

24:03

continues to harm people. and to show at

24:05

this administration how they truly care about

24:07

people or don't based on who they

24:09

appoint to these positions and that is part

24:12

of my role as a senator but

24:14

it doesn't mean i'm not going to

24:16

go back to my state and work on

24:18

behalf of everyone for that greater good

24:20

and solve problems and make sure i'm talking

24:22

to everyone whether they voted for me

24:24

or not because it is true i

24:26

you know it's an it's an old action

24:29

but That rising tide lifts all boats.

24:31

That's what this is about for me in

24:33

my state. I'm third generation. I love

24:35

Nevada, and I will continue to fight

24:37

for it. So I pick my battles, but

24:39

don't... No, I've seen you. You went

24:41

viral during that not here to pick on

24:43

that challenge, trust me. No, I've seen

24:45

you pick performer during that confirmation hearing,

24:48

and I I mean, you

24:50

obviously know Bill Cassidy. I do not,

24:52

but I have... Personally, I have many

24:54

thoughts on how we ended up with

24:56

RFK Jr., the head of HHS. I'm

24:59

curious, you've mentioned doge or

25:01

doge adjacent cuts a number

25:03

of times. Since we've

25:05

been speaking, Elon Musk is on his

25:07

way out the door at the end

25:10

of May. It seems special government employee

25:12

runs out and also Tesla is in

25:14

free fall like the economy and I

25:16

think he needs to get back to

25:18

work. What do you think

25:20

the future of Doge looks like and

25:23

do you have more faith in your

25:25

ability to maybe get some of the

25:27

funding for these programs reinstated once Elon

25:30

such a big figure in the administration? No,

25:32

I think Elon's achieved his goal here

25:34

and it's going to continue. I think

25:37

we don't know the full extent of

25:39

what he has done and the access

25:41

to personal information of Americans that they

25:43

have collated and put together in a

25:45

database. We don't know and we won't

25:47

uncover that until after this administration because

25:49

this administration is still protecting him and

25:51

they will continue to do so. That's

25:53

why it is important moving forward as

25:55

we look at our oversight role in

25:57

demanding answers. and questioning them

26:00

and what's happening and having shadow hearings

26:02

and highlighting what is going on when

26:04

we find out and keeping that pressure

26:06

on this administration. I think it is

26:08

so important. The administration would like nothing

26:11

for literally would like us as Democrats

26:13

to act as Republicans are acting right

26:15

now and just giving all away and

26:17

just be a rubber stamp. There's no

26:19

way. In hell, I'm going to be

26:22

a rubber stamp. I will never be.

26:24

And that's the important part of moving

26:26

forward in Congress as we challenge this

26:28

administration on the bad things that they

26:31

are doing. Let me highlight something that,

26:33

again, is a rage for me. I

26:36

come from a Western state. We are

26:38

having wildfires in the West that are

26:40

lasting now longer than they traditionally did.

26:43

It usually be a month, maybe a

26:45

couple of months a season. They're now

26:47

happening all year long. And we need

26:49

resources to fight those fires, not only

26:52

for the prevention of those fires, but

26:54

the suppression and remediation. My

26:56

colleagues and I, in a bipartisan

26:58

way, we put almost about $8

27:01

billion into Western wildfire support. This

27:04

administration, just recently, has come along,

27:06

has eliminated All of that funding

27:08

that went to reduce the fuels

27:10

for those fires the contractors that

27:12

were out there reducing the fuels

27:14

for those fires eliminated the positions

27:17

for the wildfire firefighters and has

27:19

put stop orders on a number

27:21

of things so. I can guarantee

27:23

you, and I can tell you

27:25

right now after talking to some

27:27

of my folks at home, everybody's

27:29

in a panic mode about the

27:31

next wildfire season and how devastating

27:34

it may be, not just to

27:36

our rural communities, but to our

27:38

urban areas as well. That's

27:40

the challenge we have is getting

27:43

this administration to understand the real

27:45

impacts that they're having when they're

27:47

making decisions in Washington, D .C.

27:50

and that it is going to cost

27:52

people's lives. and their homes. And

27:54

it really requires that conversation to take place.

27:57

And for me, that means my Republican colleagues

27:59

need to step up some of them. Can't

28:01

be a rubber stamp on this. We need

28:03

to step up. They need to be there

28:05

as well. Pushing back in a bipartisan way

28:08

is so important in this administration. Standing up

28:10

for this branch of government, as you well

28:12

know, first branch of government. checks and balances

28:14

are so important. And we've got to fight

28:16

for that. We've got to fight for that

28:19

moving forward in this Congress. And it is,

28:21

but Jessica, you said it, it is a

28:23

challenge with some of my Republicans right now

28:25

who are afraid of retribution. Yeah.

28:28

I mean, good for Lisa Murkowski to

28:30

just say it out loud. And, you

28:32

know, that's certainly as an observer of

28:34

the confirmation hearings, you could see the

28:36

abject terror on the faces of some

28:38

of your Republican colleagues. And they say,

28:40

oh, I'm about to vote for Tulsi

28:43

Gabbard. because I'm scared of what's going

28:45

to happen to me or Pete Hexeth.

28:48

It's tough times, but very thankful to have

28:50

you there. And our last question, which we

28:52

asked everyone, and you did just rage a

28:55

little bit, but what's one thing that you

28:57

are raging about and one thing that you

28:59

think we should all calm down about? Well,

29:01

I will tell you the mental health piece is

29:04

just so important. I think people aren't realizing the

29:07

impact that this administration is having

29:09

on undoing all of the resources

29:11

we put out there around mental

29:13

health. But by the way,

29:15

there are gaps in services we need to

29:17

do so much more. But he's taking away

29:19

even the small gains that we have made

29:22

around mental health services for our seniors, for

29:24

our kids, for so many that

29:26

need it right now. And that to me

29:28

is just my fight moving forward because I

29:30

know so many of my colleagues in the

29:33

past. Debbie Staben and I was one of

29:35

them. She's retired. That fought for

29:37

mental health services. Roy Blunt, who

29:39

is... retired, fought for mental health services,

29:42

and now that's all going away. So

29:44

that, to me, is worth the fight

29:46

here continuing to push back. And

29:49

then in general, people just need to be

29:51

going down about the disagreements among Democrats. We're

29:55

going to have disagreements. That's just the nature

29:57

of the party that we have that you

29:59

and I just But

30:01

at the end of the

30:03

day, the unity is around this

30:05

administration's abuse of power and

30:07

stopping it and their overreach of

30:09

federal government. And our

30:11

focus should also be, as

30:13

a priority, how we protect and fight for

30:15

those hard -working Americans at the end of the

30:18

day. That to me is very simple. I

30:20

like it. Senator Cortez Masto from the

30:22

state of Nevada, Nevada. Well I do

30:24

it? Yes, you. you. That's bad. You know

30:26

how you can do all these very

30:28

complicated things? Like, oh, go get a

30:30

PhD, but I can't pronounce pronounce it a

30:32

really important state. It

30:34

was so great to have you. I

30:37

hope you'll come back again sometime soon and be

30:39

watching and supporting the Mod Squad. Full

30:42

tilt. We love centrism over here. Thank

30:45

you. It's great to join you. Thank you.