Despite the deep political polarization in Washington and the nation, U.S Senator-elect Jacky Rosen thinks there are areas where both parties can work together.

Meeting with reporters Friday, Rosen said there are issues both parties can agree to work on, mentioning her involvement in the Problem Solvers Caucus as a representative in the House. According to a report by Quorum Analytics, 41 percent of the legislation Rosen has co-sponsored was introduced by a Republican, making her the fifth-most bipartisan freshman member in the House.

“There are a lot of things we get along on,” said Rosen, adding that she believes her willingness to work with Republicans on bipartisan issues was the reason she was elected.

In the Senate, Rosen said she plans to continue working on areas she worked on in the House, including cybersecurity, infrastructure, and career and technical education. Rosen served on a task force that made recommendations for a bipartisan infrastructure package while in the House.

When asked about the possibility of gun safety legislation, Rosen said she could only “hope our colleagues on the Senate side may have seen what’s going on in this country and have a little bit more empathy for ways we can protect the second amendment and protect our public health and safety.”

Rosen said she would not support a border security package without a pathway for DREAMers “and take them off the table.”

“People have been using DREAMER as pawns,” Rosen said.

Earlier this year, White House officials asked Democrats to approve $25 billion for Trump’s border wall in exchange for extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program through fall of 2020, but Democrats refused the offer without a pathway to citizenship to DACA recipients. In Nevada there are an estimated 13,000 DACA recipients.

“We need to be sure we protect people who have been here their whole lives through no fault of their own,” Rosen said.

Rosen also said she wanted to reintroduce her House legislation that would prohibit funding for Yucca Mountain but said that the surest path to blocking funding was the Democratic majority in the House.



Rosen reiterated her support for a Medicaid-buy in and a public option for health insurance marketplaces rather than the single-payer health insurance system, championed by more progressive members of the party.

“When you make a sweeping change, you can’t wait to see what falls through the cracks, because what could move through the cracks is somebody’s life,” Rosen said.

On Trump, Rosen was less conciliatory saying she wants Trump to stop making executive orders and seek bipartisan solutions, adding the president should “stop the politics of divisiveness and bring us together.”

Earlier this week Trump threatened a retaliatory investigation into House Democrats by the courtesy of the Senate if they continue to launch investigates on the president.

In response, Rosen said she believes Trump appointed acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, should recuse himself from Mueller’s investigation based off prior bias and allow the investigation to “move forward in a way that comes to its logical conclusion.”

As the House prepares to assume the chairmanships of the chamber’s committees next week, Rosen said they would do everything they can to protect the Mueller investigation.

“We do not want to want to go into a constitutional crisis. This is bigger than any one President. It’s important for our democracy,” Rosen said.