LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Attorney General Aaron Ford on Tuesday touted the success of 40 different lawsuits Nevada has filed against the federal government since President Donald Trump resumed office a year ago.
The lawsuits ranged from preserving grants the state had earned to alleged constitutional violations, each one of which Ford said was undertaken because Nevadans were disadvantaged by federal actions.
WATCH| Steve Sebelius reports the latest on Attorney General Ford filing 40 different lawsuits against President Trump
"I hope I have signaled to both the Governor [Joe Lombardo] and the president is that every time the federal government oversteps, one of us is going to step up, and it's not going to be [Lombardo]," said Ford. "Every time the president attempts to hand wave the Constitution away or to harm hardworking Nevadans, he will see me in court. I will use every bit of my power as your attorney general to ensure that the federal government or anyone else does not bring harm to Nevadans."
Ford has declared his intent to seek the Democratic nomination for governor against Republican Lombardo, who is running for re-election this year.
In response, Lombardo-supporting Better Nevada PAC spokesman John Burke said in a statement, "Part-time Attorney General Aaron Ford spent 137 days in a single year traveling out of state instead of doing his job. When he does show up, he prioritizes partisan lawsuits over protecting Nevadans — at the expense of taxpayers. Nevadans don't want a woke, empty-suit politician leading the state. They deserve real leadership, and that's exactly what they have in Governor Joe Lombardo."
Ford said his legal engagement began on the day Trump resumed office, when he signed a flurry of executive orders, and the pace didn't let up.
"Throughout the first year of President Trump's term, it has seemed that every week, the president attempted to circumvent the limitations of power that our country has placed on his office," Ford said. "President Trump has attempted to rip away vital funding without caring what programs were decimated. He attempted to to rewrite the Constitution with the stroke of his pen, and he attempted to destroy the ability of Nevadans in need to put food on the table."
A list of lawsuits distributed at the news conference shows lawsuits to prevent the government from getting the private information of Nevadans to enforce immigration laws; to continue grant funding earned by state agencies and colleges; to prevent the dismantling of AmeriCorps; to continue SNAP funding during the government shutdown, to block attempts to restrict crime victim funds based on whether a state participates in immigration enforcement; and to challenge the president's executive order targeting birthright citizenship.
Ford defended the costs of the lawsuits, saying he has paid for everything within the scope of his existing budget. He estimated that the state has kept more than $60 million it otherwise might have lost had he taken no legal actions.
"The cost to the state of not pursuing this litigation would have been astronomical," Ford said.
