Amber Phillips

Story Archive

Biden, DNC chair to campaign in Las Vegas for congressional hopeful
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Vice President Joe Biden will be in Las Vegas next week, in part to stump for congressional candidate Erin Bilbray. Bilbray’s campaign confirmed Biden would be a special guest at an …
Republican Dean Heller wants to extend unemployment benefits. Mark Amodei doesn’t. Here’s why.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
In a rare feat of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats from Nevada’s six-person delegation have backed Heller’s effort to renew benefits for the long-term unemployed. ...
Dina Titus takes on Yucca, and Dean Heller grills NCAA president
Friday, July 11, 2014
Nevada's congressional delegation tried its best this week to strip federal funding for research to store the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountain, but it was a futile effort ...
Chances slim for law to blunt court’s ruling on contraceptives
Thursday, July 10, 2014
It’s got a catchy name, but a proposal by Senate Democrats to override a Supreme Court decision striking down part of a federal mandate requiring companies to provide women with birth control isn’t likely to become law anytime soon. The Not My Boss’ Business Act would guarantee...
Congress clears Henderson to buy, clean up toxic mine site
Thursday, July 10, 2014
An abandoned mine outside Henderson could go from toxic eyesore to residential high-rises after Congress approved the sale more than 900 acres of federal land to the city of Henderson. The Senate approved legislation Wednesday...
Steven Horsford, Darrell Issa and Congress’ most politicized committee
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
There’s a place in Congress where the nation’s biggest scandals get dissected. From questionable IRS scrutiny of conservative nonprofits to the 2012 killings of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is on it. And Nevada’s Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford is right in the middle ...
On America’s birthday, Congress takes a break, and it’s a sign of how Washington works
Thursday, July 3, 2014
It’s America’s birthday week, but the country’s most recognizable landmark is empty. The marbled halls of Congress, normally bustling with striding, suited lawmakers and their harried aides ...
Harry Reid: Court’s ruling jeopardizes access to essential health care
Monday, June 30, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Congress will have to pick up where the Supreme Court left off after the court ruled that employers don’t have to provide contraceptives to their employees. “If the Supreme Court will not...
Conditions for young, detained immigrants are humanitarian crisis, Horsford says
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Horsford toured a southern Texas detention facility Saturday and was appalled by what he saw: About 50 children crowd into bedroom-size cells, where they sleep on concrete floors ...
Washington memo: Rep. Joe Heck’s big week
Friday, June 27, 2014
Rep. Joe Heck probably had the Nevada delegation’s most successful week in Congress, and Sen. Dean Heller continued his fight to extend unemployment benefits for ...
Democrats lean on House to pass immigration reform
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Congressional Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., renewed their calls today for House Republicans to take up immigration reform. “Republicans are the reason we haven’t been able to do immigration reform,” Reid said at...
In a rare swing district, Republican Rep. Joe Heck faces test from Democrat Erin Bilbray
Thursday, June 26, 2014
In a relatively quiet Nevada election year, the race to represent Henderson and Boulder City in Congress will be big and bitter in one of America’s last true swing districts in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican incumbent Rep. Joe Heck is ...
Congress passes bill to help retrain workers
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Congress approved a bill today to modernize workforce development programs, which in Nevada help train job-seekers for new industries and provide educational opportunities for workers. Congress last addressed workforce programs...
Heck holds hearing on benefits denied to Filipino-American veterans
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
When Congress acts to right a wrong, sometimes it doesn’t do a very good job. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., would argue that’s the case with regard to...
Sen. Dean Heller making new push for extended unemployment benefits
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is once again trying to restore federal benefits for the long-term unemployed, after his last approach failed to pass Congress. “What I was hoping would be a sprint has become...
Washington memo: Rep. Steven Horsford and the long road to getting things done
Friday, June 20, 2014
Sometimes, being a member of Congress isn’t that glamorous. Rep. Steven Horsford has spent his entire first year and a half ...
Harry Reid says billionaire Koch brothers ‘trying to buy America’
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continued his vitriolic attacks on the Koch brothers today, calling them “the cult of Koch. Reid attacked...
Nevada advocates lobby Washington to oppose bigger trucks on roadways
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Could the commercial trucks we share our highways with be getting bigger? Congress is mulling an idea to allow bigger and heavier semitrailers ...
President singles out Las Vegas entrepreneur as new wave of nation's makers gathers at White House
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
It’s not every day a Las Vegas resident gets a shoutout from the president. But today, President Barack Obama singled out entrepreneur Jen McCabe as a key player in a new wave of manufacturers who Obama says are …
Dean Heller to Dr. Oz: ‘Do you believe there’s a miracle pill out there?’
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
A Senate panel led by Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said the country is so deceived by weight loss products that they invited Dr. Mehmert Oz of “The Dr. Oz Show” to Washington, D.C., to talk about how to clamp down on false advertisements. During today's hearing ...
Las Vegas gets $28M in tax breaks to spur development
Monday, June 16, 2014
Las Vegas now has $28 million in federal tax breaks to hand out to businesses that want to invest in lower-income areas. The city was awarded the tax breaks this week as part of...
Has I-11 hit a dead end?
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Interstate 11 is the West’s dream transportation project. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is ushering the project through the Washington bureaucracy. Every politician and chamber of commerce between Reno and Phoenix supports the project. After a decade of planning, it’s almost time to start building. But there’s a bump in ...
Congressional candidate challenging GOP primary results
Friday, June 13, 2014
Tea party candidate Niger Innis lost his primary race for Congress on Tuesday, but he’s not giving up without a fight. Innis, a political consultant, conceded the Republican primary for...
Cresent Hardy won the primary, now faces big test against Rep. Steven Horsford
Friday, June 13, 2014
Republican congressional nominee Cresent Hardy may have coasted to victory in his primary, but now the real work begins if he wants to unseat Steven Horsford for ...
Titus embraces ‘second to none’ theme for Democratic nominee
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Rep. Dina Titus said she’s “disappointed” her party couldn’t pull together a candidate that could top the “none” option that won the …
Democrats continue to hammer GOP with student loan bill
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
A vote on a bill to make federal student loans more affordable failed in the Senate on Wednesday, but Democrats aren’t worried. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democrats are using the defeat as...
Despite Harry Reid’s growing support, gun control legislation probably isn’t going anywhere in Congress
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
In the wake of the Las Vegas police shooting, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid has thrown his full and considerable political weight into more strict gun laws. The Nevada Democrat has ...
Senate confirms public defender to fill Nevada federal court vacancy
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
For the first time in several years, Nevada’s federal bench doesn’t have an empty seat. The U.S. Senate today confirmed...
Dean Heller says VA chief in Reno should step down
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
In anticipation of a damning report expected to be released today on Veterans Affairs management in Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller called for the resignation of the head of the agency in Reno.
“Enough is enough,” the Republican senator from Nevada said in...
Nevada Sen. Harry Reid has words of advice for coal miners
Friday, June 6, 2014
Sen. Harry Reid has written much about his childhood growing up in a mining town gone bust. But the Nevada Democrat doesn’t think the same fate befalls today’s coal miners ...
Why is Harry Reid so obsessed with the Redskins changing their name?
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Sen. Harry Reid has made himself the face of the recent public campaign to change the name of the Washington Redskins football team. But why?
Nevada’s top Republicans embrace Cresent Hardy in challenge of Rep. Steven Horsford
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Within the ongoing national narrative of the Republican party’s identity crisis, think of Assemblyman Cresent Hardy as the establishment candidate. The Mesquite native ...
Heller on extending unemployment benefits: ‘We’re not giving up’
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
In April, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller’s bipartisan bill to restore federal benefits for long-term unemployed Americans passed the Senate. But no amount of...
Harry Reid says ‘dark money’ in campaigns threatens democracy
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
The U.S. Senate’s top Democrat and top Republican testified today at opposite ends of a proposed constitutional amendment to give Congress power to limit outside spending in campaigns.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid left his...
Niger Innis embraces outsider status in attempt to unseat Rep. Steven Horsford
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Political activist and tea party candidate Niger Innis likes to frame himself as the outsider, the fringe candidate whose ideas resonate with people tired of the establishment. But some Republican operatives ...
Titus-sponsored bill on military counseling sails through House
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
A bill proposed by Rep. Dina Titus to extend sexual trauma counseling services for National Guard and other reserve members passed …
Campaign launched to promote benefits of casino gaming
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Tired of negative stereotypes and high taxes, one of gaming’s most prominent trade associations is going on the offensive. The American Gaming Association is launching...
Washington memo: Rep. Steven Horsford pulls support for NSA bill
Friday, May 23, 2014
Congress just wrapped up an epic nine-week stint of business. Nevada’s lawmakers are already on planes headed home for a week of hob-knobbing.
After ban on earmarks, Nevada shows how a $280-million funding request gets through Congress
Friday, May 23, 2014
In Congress, the smoke-filled, back-room deal trading is gone. So is the more benign equivalent, the earmark. Nevada’s delegation is split ...
Nevada lawmakers support legislation to fight human trafficking
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
As an international tourist destination, Las Vegas is a magnet for sex trafficking. And members of Congress who represent the metropolitan area agreed today on what to do about it.
Despite party differences, members of Congress who...
Four takeaways from Sens. Harry Reid, Dean Heller personal financial statements
Friday, May 16, 2014
How wealthy are Nevada’s senators? Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., don’t always talk about their personal lives ...
Reid, Heller among lawmakers speaking out on VA scandal
Thursday, May 15, 2014
There’s little that angers members of Congress in both parties more than accusations of mistreatment of veterans. And allegations that Veterans Affairs health care officials covered up...
Senate considering $85 billion in tax breaks
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
If there’s one thing Congress can come together on, it’s tax breaks for constituents. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is attempting to push through...
Democrat Erin Bilbray encouraged by poll results for campaign against Rep. Joe Heck
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
A poll commissioned by Erin Bilbray’s campaign shows the candidate for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District lacks name recognition but her resoundingly Democratic message may resonate with voters. An independent Washington, D.C. ...
Q+A: Democrat Erin Bilbray explains her strategy to unseat Congressman Joe Heck
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Almost a year into her campaign for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Erin Bilbray hopes she’s made inroads with voters. It’s not an easy sell ...
Bill would open door for government conventions in Las Vegas
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Two years after federal employees were caught noshing on $7,000 sushi on the taxpayer’s dime in Las Vegas, Rep. Mark Amodei hopes the government will consider holding its conventions there again. The Republican representing...
House Republicans: Why aren’t regulators asking for money to study Yucca Mountain?
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The way congressional Republicans see it, the independent agency charged with studying Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste site is trying to run out the clock on the project. That’s because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ...
Sandoval recognized for promoting charter schools in Nevada
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Nevada is home to some of the fastest-growing charter schools in the country, and the state is earning a reputation nationally among advocates for its progress. Gov. Brian Sandoval was named...
Sen. Harry Reid calls on Congress to invest in tourism
Monday, May 5, 2014
Tourism advocates have dubbed this first week of May the National Travel and Tourism Week, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. took the opportunity to call for more investment in Las Vegas’ tourism industry and beyond. To do so ...
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller ramps up pressure to get unemployment bill passed
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller is reversing some of his earlier attempts to compromise with House Republican leaders to get his bill passed. A month ago, Heller said he was willing to compromise ...