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How Nevada programs are faring the wake of Trump admin's cuts, cancellations – The Nevada Independent

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How Nevada programs are faring the wake of Trump admin's cuts, cancellations – The Nevada Independent


Nevadans are learning that unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Washington (and Mar-a-Lago) doesn’t stay in Washington.

After more than two months into the Trump administration, we’re starting to see the impacts of the funding cuts, cancellations and rescissions pursued by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

As my colleagues Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren reported, nearly 50 state health employees were let go after the sudden cancellation of pandemic-era federal grants. 

Between cuts to two programs, Nevada food banks are facing 10 percent budget holes and seeing deliveries cancelled. 

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And though some fired federal employees (including at Great Basin National Park) are back to work thanks to a judicial order, the massive layoffs expected across federal agencies means there’s more to come.

The Walker River Paiute Tribe is one group in Nevada that’s been left in limbo by the torrent of executive action. A $20 million grant to the tribe for climate resiliency projects, including much-needed upgrades to the reservation’s water infrastructure, has been suspended by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Ostensibly ensnared in the Trump administration’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion — the grant program has “environmental justice” in the name — the tribe and its partners are trying to leverage relationships in Congress, including with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), to get the funding reinstated. 

The federal government’s war on DEI goes beyond academia or corporate culture — and things such as the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s new water storage tank hang in the balance. Read more here.

Around the Capitol

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🏛️Effectiveness ratings are in — Three Nevadans landed in the top 10 for their caucuses in the Center for Effective Lawmaking’s biannual scorecard, which attempts to quantify how effective members of Congress based on how many bills they get passed, and how substantive those bills are.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) finished third among all House Democrats. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was seventh among Senate Democrats and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) was eighth. Titus’ influence was greatest on international affairs policy, Cortez Masto’s on Native Americans and Rosen’s on education.

📵Rosen sends a Signal — Rosen led a group of 15 Senate Democrats in a Thursday letter calling for hearings into top Trump administration figures’ handling of classified information after a bombshell story in The Atlantic revealed that Cabinet officials were discussing specific war plans in a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a journalist.

Rosen’s letter goes right to the top, calling for Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, among others in the group chat, to testify.

💊Cortez Masto, Horsford go after drugmakers   Cortez Masto and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) introduced bicameral legislation Thursday to expand a prescription drug policy created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

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The IRA included a provision that fines pharmaceutical companies for increasing prices at a rate faster than inflation for prescription drugs covered by Medicare. The Nevadans’ bill would expand that to private insurance.

What I’m Reading

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sheriff rejects requests to use Las Vegas officers for immigration enforcement

Sheriff Kevin McMahill has been quite consistent about this — but it hasn’t stopped the feds from asking.

The Nevada Independent: Poll: Nevada voters oppose Medicaid cuts, Department of Education elimination

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Trump’s Nevada poll number: +1. Trump’s 2024 margin of victory: +3.

The Associated Press: Man accused of setting fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas arrested, police say

Attacks on Tesla have been reported around the country.

Notable and Quotable

“I don’t know what happened there or why or whatever, but if I ever suspect that I’m on a group whatever, I’m getting out of it.”

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— Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), in an interview on Wednesday, on the Signal group chat

Vote of the Week

H.R.1048On Passage: DETERRENT Act

This Republican-sponsored bill tightens the standards for universities to receive foreign gifts, lowering the reporting threshold and prohibiting higher education from entering contracts with foreign countries of concern.

AMODEI: Not voting

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HORSFORD: Yes

LEE: Yes

TITUS: No



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Nevada

Court OK’s counting late-arriving mail ballots in Nevada, 29 other states

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Court OK’s counting late-arriving mail ballots in Nevada, 29 other states


LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada’s laws allowing the counting of mail-in ballots that arrive up to four days after Election Day — so long as they are postmarked by that date — is constitutional under a Monday ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 5-4 ruling, justices upheld a challenge to a Mississippi law that’s similar to Nevada’s statute. Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s three liberal members, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson, to uphold the law.

Conservatives Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

The ruling affects 30 states, all of which allow some ballots received after Election Day to be counted. That includes Nevada, which allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received and counted up to four days later, and ballots without a postmark to be received and counted up to three days later.

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Plaintiffs in the case — including the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Republican Party — had contended that federal laws referring to “elections” mean both the casting and counting of ballots, which they said must occur on Election Day.

“The federal election-day statutes do not preempt Mississippi’s law because the defining element of an ‘election’ has always been the electorate’s choice of candidate,” the case summary reads. “And a related federal statute — the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act — confirms that while federal law dictates when ballots must be cast, state law governs when they must be received.”

In Nevada, critics have contended that late-arriving ballots erode confidence in elections, because they delay learning final election results for days and, in some close races, can change the outcome.

Gov. Joe Lombardo has called the weeklong wait for final, unofficial results “a national embarrassment.”

Plaintiffs in the case made similar arguments, but were turned away by the court: “Finally, plaintiffs policy arguments about election integrity and voter confidence are properly addressed to legislatures, not courts,” the case summary reads.

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Several attempts to require ballots to be received by Election Day have been introduced in Nevada’s Legislature, but none have been successful in the Democratically controlled body.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has argued that the overwhelming majority of ballots are in and counted by Election Day, and only the closest races may be changed by late-arriving ballots. He’s advocated for more resources for county clerks and voter registrars to be able to count mail ballots more quickly.

Under the ruling, nothing will change for Nevada voters going to the polls in four months to vote in the November election. But officials still encourage voters to send in their mail ballots early, or to put them in drop boxes at voting centers during early voting or on Election Day.

Supreme Court upholds late-arriving mail ballots in Mississippi

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One dead, four hospitalized after head-on crash on I-15 in Clark County

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One dead, four hospitalized after head-on crash on I-15 in Clark County


LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada Highway Patrol responded to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 15 near mile marker 94 Sunday evening.

The crash was reported at 6:43 p.m. on June 28.

MORE ON FOX5: Driver sustains life-threatening injuries in Las Vegas multi-vehicle crash

A passenger sedan and a pickup truck were involved in the crash. One vehicle was traveling southbound, lost control, crossed through the median, and struck the other vehicle head-on in the northbound travel lane.

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One adult male died at the scene. Two people were transported by ground ambulance, and two others were transported by life flight to a local hospital.

Road closures

All northbound I-15 travel lanes were closed at mile marker 94, but have since opened as of Sunday night.

Nevada Highway Patrol said further information will be provided following the preliminary investigation.

Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.



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Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires

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Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires












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Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires | Local Nevada | Local























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