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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto

Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair and Senator for Nevada

pronounced KATH-rin // kor-TEZ mass-TOH

Cortez Masto is the senior senator from Nevada and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2017. Cortez Masto is next up for reelection in 2028 and serves until Jan 3, 2029. She is 59 years old.

She is also Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.

Photo of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 Report Card for Cortez Masto.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Cortez Masto is shown as a purple triangle in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Cortez Masto has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jun 1, 2023. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Catherine Cortez Masto sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Cortez Masto was the primary sponsor of 18 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 18 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Cortez Masto sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Commerce (16%) Taxation (15%) Energy (13%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (13%) Transportation and Public Works (13%) Health (12%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Cortez Masto recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

As Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair, Cortez Masto may be focused on her responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting her party, and brokering deals.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Cortez Masto voted Nay

Bill Passed 69/27 on Jan 21, 2021.

This was a vote to waive the seven-year waiting period for former military to serve in the civilian position of Defense Secretary. Nominee Lloyd Austin …

Cortez Masto voted Yea

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Feb 14, 2019.

This bill, in its final form, funded the parts of the federal government whose funding was to lapse on February 15, 2019. On December 22, …

Cortez Masto voted Yea

Conference Report Agreed to 87/13 on Dec 11, 2018.

See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and …

Cortez Masto voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 71/28 on Feb 9, 2018.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have …

Cortez Masto voted Yea

Joint Resolution Passed 59/40 on Mar 8, 2017.

H.J.Res. 58, would disapprove and nullify the rule issued by the Department of Education on October 31, 2016, imposing new standards on teacher education and …

Cortez Masto voted Nay

Missed Votes

From Jan 2017 to Jun 2023, Cortez Masto missed 20 of 2,408 roll call votes, which is 0.8%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: