Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford on tourism, trade wars and taking on Trump

WASHINGTON — Asked if the ends can justify the means in politics, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford brings it back to tariffs.

“That’s part of the problem right now. You know, tariffs are not a bad thing, but how you do it matters,” the Nevada Democrat says.

Tourism is a big industry in Nevada’s 4th District, which includes parts of Las Vegas along with vast expanses beyond, and Horsford calls signs of a dropoff in international travel “very, very troubling.”

Horsford is a member of the whip team, which means part of his job is persuading other House Democrats to vote the party line. He’s also a perennial NRCC target in a swing seat. “I’ll always vote my district first, period,” he says.

For the Nevada Democrat, that’s not a contradiction. “I’m able to offer insights that others may not have,” he says. “Part of being a chief deputy whip is having the perspective of those of us that come from these swing, competitive districts.”

Horsford recently sat down with Roll Call to talk about what’s happening to Las Vegas tourism, how diversity and inclusion can drive “economic imperatives in business,” and why he listens to ocean noises on the plane. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Q: We’re starting to see the impact of tariff decisions. How are things looking to you in Vegas?

A: It’s alarming. International travel is down 17% just from the start of this year. International travelers typically spend more, stay longer. They go out to Hoover Dam and to Red Rock Canyon. They experience the entire region, not just the strip of Las Vegas.

We endured a lot during the pandemic, but the economy was really strong over the last few years and getting stronger. And now we have a self-inflicted wound caused by the president unilaterally making a choice to start trade wars with the world and not being strategic at all.

You know, we understand China, even from a travel and tourism standpoint, because they are a major competitor of ours too. But there’s a way to do it, and unfortunately, the president has taken a reckless approach, and it’s costing jobs, and it’s creating economic uncertainty.

Q: Does being on the whip team complicate things for you, trying to make sure people toe the party line, when you yourself may want to break with your colleagues on things like the Laken Riley Act ?

A: Well, I’ll always vote my district first, period. I don’t care what title I hold in any other regard, I have one allegiance, and that’s to the 750,000 people in Nevada who elect me to do a job. No one here elected me to anything.

My district is 50,000 square miles. It’s half the state of Nevada, and I have demographic and geographic diversity that requires me to work on a variety of issues, from land use to water to grazing rights to lithium mining to housing to economic development to immigration and everything in between. And those issues cross party lines. So my experience actually helps our whip team bring those issues to bear.

Q: You chaired the Congressional Black Caucus last Congress. How do you respond to those who argue Democrats have focused too much on DEI and not enough on other problems Americans are facing?

A: Donald Trump and his administration, after looking at Pete Hegseth and others, have nothing to say when it comes to meritocracy in federal service. When I talk about diversity and inclusion, I talk about it in terms of driving economic imperatives in business — creating opportunities for small businesses to have access to capital, individuals having the tools to pursue and obtain education.

One of the reasons I believe I’m successful in my district, despite the headwinds around me, is that I always center the needs of my constituents and what they care about, and those are economic indicators — and diversity and inclusion, when approached the way I just described, then it actually grows opportunities for everyone in a meritorious way.

Q: You talk about housing prices a lot, and I know that’s a big one in Clark County. It seems like a slow-moving sector, so how do you get voters behind your policies on that? Some have pointed to a larger messaging problem for Democrats in 2024 about showing how the laws you passed would lead to real outcomes for people.

A: Actually, there are things we could do that would have a material effect immediately. For example, we have corporate hedge funds that have bought up 15% of the housing in Las Vegas and nearly 30% of the housing in North Las Vegas, which is a working-class part of my district. I have a bill to fix that, and people would feel it immediately — ensuring that if there is market manipulation that it stops, by finding these companies and taking that money and putting it into a trust fund for affordable housing.

And 84% of the land in southern Nevada is federally managed land, particularly by the Bureau of Land Management. I am working to prioritize the conversion of that land specifically for housing development. You know, people talk about build, build, build. In southern Nevada, you have to have the land to build.

Without question, the Biden administration could have done a better job communicating the successes of the policies that we implemented. People didn’t fully understand how those policies were going to improve their lives until it was too late — infrastructure, the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the things that (Republicans) are now trying to roll back in their reconciliation bill.

Q: Some want Democrats in Congress to do more to oppose the Trump administration. What are your thoughts on that?

A: Well, I came here to get s--- done. I have a bill, the TIPS Act, for example, which is an alternative to Donald Trump’s concept of a plan around no tax on tips. My bill eliminates the tax on tips, but importantly, it also raises the wage of tipped workers in states where there is no minimum wage, where they get paid as little as $2.13 an hour.

I have a third of my electorate that are nonpartisan. They don’t care what party they vote for. And I have Republican voters who split — some of them who voted for Trump also voted for me. If I could tell the overall party one thing, they’re not the center of the story. The people of America are.

I think Republicans are finding that out now, on the cuts to Medicaid and the threats to Social Security, because they affect all people across all parties. Not all of them are going to break from Donald Trump, and there’s too many that are capitulating, but I think there’s a group of them that are starting to feel that pressure — not from the parties, but from the people. And we need more of that around here.

Quick hits

Last book you read?

“Mind Shift,” about the economic and technological shifts that are happening in the market. My team and I read it as part of our retreat planning this year.

In politics, can the ends justify the means?

Does it matter the way in which you get there? Yeah, it matters. That’s part of the problem right now. You know, tariffs are not a bad thing, but how you do it matters.

Your least popular opinion?

Maybe my music choices. I listen to a lot of music. And on the plane I listen to the sound of waves to calm my nerves.

Something on your office wall that means a lot to you?

I have a photo standing with John Lewis and Steny Hoyer. I was a freshman, and I happened to be in the middle of the two of them (at a voting rights event), and I carry that as a reminder that each generation needs to carry on the mantle of justice.

One thing your friends know about you that your constituents may not?

I’m a great cook. My family recipe is curry chicken, and I have perfected the recipe over the years.

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