‘Thugs’: The Moderate Democrat Railing Against ICE
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is A.O. Scott. I'm a critic at The New York Times. What I do and what the other critics here do is part of the same project that all of the journalists at The New York Times work on every day to give you clarity and perspective and, above all, a deeper understanding of the world. When you subscribe to The New York Times, it's not just here are the headlines, but here's the way everything fits together. If you'd like to subscribe, please go to nytimes.com slash subscribe.
From New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.
Today marks the sixth day of an unusual government shutdown in which Democrats have withheld funding to a single federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, in order to force President Trump to change how thousands of its agents enforce immigration laws. Today, my conversation with an unlikely leader of the Democratic strategy, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
It's Thursday, February 19th. Senator. Hello. How are you? Good morning. This is Michael Barbaro.
Michael, I recognize the voice. How are you?
Oh, that's flattering.
Thank you for making time for us. Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. And by the way, thank you for the great reporting you do. Seriously, it's important. Yeah.
You are, as we speak, in Nevada. Correct. Not in Washington, D.C., because Congress is on a somewhat ill-timed recess. That's right. And I said ill-timed because we're in the middle of a partial government shutdown. And I want to talk about your role in that. We tend— Senator, to think of the lawmakers who become the face of a government shutdown or one of the faces of it as a particular kind of lawmaker, a firebrand, a rabble rouser, pick your adjective. You are pretty distinctly not that. Does that seem fair?
I would agree that I'm a moderate. To me, the moderates are people who are working to get things done, right? Who work in a bipartisan way, who think that good government is important, that we still have to work together to do our jobs. We still have to deliver for the American public, whether it's in our state where we live or across the country. And I think... Most people, at least when I'm in my state, they expect that. They expect you to not only work on their behalf, but work in a bipartisan way. But they also know that there are times, and I think it's okay to be out there and pick that fight and say, no, this is a battle I'm going to be very vocal about.
What prompted Senator Cortez Masto to support withholding DHS funding?
This is one I'm going to stand up and say, this can't occur. And you see that, I've done that, and you will see that for many moderates across the country doing the same thing.
Well, the last time there was a government shutdown, you opposed it. I think you voted against it something like 15 times. And so I don't tend to think of you as a shutdown person.
I see what you're saying. Yeah. So let me just say this. For me, there's nothing wrong with calling out an administration. I don't care what party you are. That's hurting our community. That is challenging our very norms, particularly around, in this case, law and order. They need to be challenged and they need to be called out.
Well, that's what we want to talk about, how you got to this point where you decided to support withholding funding from the Department of Homeland Security. And I think it stands out that you have joined this effort because of your background in law enforcement. You're a former attorney general in the state. You have a very strong set of relationships with law enforcement, which I'm sure we're going to be talking about in this conversation. DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, is a major law enforcement agency, and you have decided that funding should be withheld from it over the way it has approached immigration enforcement. And I want to talk about how, given your background, you got to that point.
So tell us that story. Where does it begin over the past year or so?
So let me just say, back in September, when we were talking about the first shutdown. Over health care. Over health care, that's right.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:14
2
What prompted Senator Cortez Masto to support withholding DHS funding?
3:14–10:46
3
How does Senator Masto define her role as a moderate Democrat?
10:46–17:36
4
What concerns did Senator Masto have regarding immigration enforcement?
17:36–33:53
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Daily
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