Alongside many other Democratic attorneys general pushing back against the policies being enacted by President Donald Trump and his administration, Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford has signed on to more than 40 lawsuits so far in the president’s second term. 

Ford’s record in the state’s top law enforcement position — a role he’s held since 2019 — is figuring prominently as he seeks to unseat Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in 2026. During a press conference on Tuesday, Ford took a jab at the governor directly. 

“Every time the federal government oversteps, one of us is going to step up, and it’s not going to be him,” Ford said. 

To determine if a case was worth pursuing, Alcinia Whiters, deputy communications director for the attorney general’s office, said in a statement that Ford weighed if one of the administration’s actions was unlawful and was hurting Nevadans. Withers declined an interview request late last year directed at Ford, although he later called the press briefing to discuss his lawsuits. 

Lombardo’s office did not respond to a request for comment about Ford’s legal strategy.

Many of the lawsuits are facilitated by the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which has touted its members as “one of the leading forces in holding the Trump administration accountable.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who served as Nevada’s attorney general from 2007-2015, said she understands the decisions that go into joining multistate lawsuits with other attorneys general.

“As Nevada’s Attorney General, I consistently worked with my colleagues in other states to push back against policies that hurt Nevadans. Attorney General Ford’s record is clear: he’s focused on keeping Nevadans safe and helping them keep more money in their pockets – just look at his work challenging President Trump’s tariffs that are decimating our travel and tourism economy,” Cortez Masto wrote in a statement.

Here’s where Ford stands on issues important to the Trump administration and to everyday Nevadans.

Immigration

Immigration has been the focal point of Trump’s second term in office. Between significant budget increases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, high targets for arrest numbers and calls to end birthright citizenship, Trump has been met with legal challenges at every turn.

The cases challenge issues including the federal funding freeze for disasters, cuts in transportation funding and hurdles to accessing federal Victims of Crime Act grants for states not compliant with Trump’s immigration policies.

One of Ford’s strongest rebukes of the administration came in the statement regarding funding freeze for disasters.

“The programs that would be affected by this unlawful action include necessary monies for airports, bridges and railroads; disaster relief; highway construction and maintenance; and other critical infrastructure needs,” Ford wrote. “By putting these illegal conditions on millions of dollars that Nevada needs, this administration is playing games with the lives and safety of Nevadans.”

Athar Haseebullah, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, says that he’s grateful to have an attorney general who will fight for issues that they believe in, even if his organization often goes up against Ford. 

“It’s complex because the attorney general is also responsible for defending the lawsuits that my organization files against the state,” Haseebullah said. “But what I do know about this attorney general, from my vantage point, is he’s not afraid to fight, and that matters in a moment like this.”

Haseebullah said that it’s a “brutal time” for immigrant communities. He said people are giving up on the belief their elected officials are going to take a stand on anything, but Ford’s filings have given hope to some.

“We see so many elected officials that are unwilling to have a conversation or debate publicly because they’re afraid it might hurt their political prospects,” Haseebullah said. “Ford’s not afraid of doing that, which is a marker of strength for someone in my role on the other side of those issues, to see someone who can be adversarial but still be professional.”

Education

The Department of Education has been under attack from the Trump administration with consistent threats to dismantle the department since his campaign. Now he is making good on his promise by moving central agencies to other departments, including:

• K-12 and postsecondary grant programs, including Title I funding for low-income students, are now being overseen by the Department of Labor.
• Child care access programs and foreign medical accreditation are now being overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.
• International education and foreign language programs will now be overseen by the State Department.

Ford said in a statement prior to these cuts that as a former public school math teacher, he understands the consequences of turning the education department upside down.

“I know firsthand what happens when politicians play games with education — our kids pay the price,” Ford wrote.

UNLV College of Education Dean Danica Hays says Nevada’s education system is already underfunded and the decentralization of the education department will only make matters worse.

“This is the most significant structural change in federal education policy in decades,” Hays said. “We have relied on the Department of Education as a single entity because it puts into focus this distinct federal mission on schooling.”

She said the education department provides funding for services to train and retain teachers as well as services that students need.

“We look around this state and most of our schools in Nevada are Title I schools, meaning that they receive and rely on this extra funding for their schools because the majority of their students in those schools are low income, and a lot of those Title I schools are located in areas that are already under resourced,” Hays said.

Ford has also signed onto a suit challenging the department’s efforts to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that don’t comply with diversity, equity and inclusion bans, as well as a suit challenging rescinded COVID-19-related education grant funds that were intended to be available through March 2026.

Environment

Ford has notably not signed onto many cases regarding the environment and climate change.

Trump has been rolling back environmental protections and laws since his first term in office, including leaving the Paris climate agreement. In his second term, Trump has ordered the Department of Energy to ban certain words and phrases, including “climate change,” “decarbonization” and “emissions,” and he has ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to scrub any mentions of climate change from websites.

There are suits challenging the administration’s withholding of funds for green energy projects and the cancellation of funds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Another suit is challenging an executive order that declared a national emergency to fast track permits for fossil fuel extraction in “sensitive areas” such as regions with high ecological importance or significant biodiversity, according to the National Institutes of Health.

These are issues that can affect Nevada, yet Ford so far hasn’t jumped onto any of them.

Olivia Tanager, the Nevada chapter director for the Sierra Club, said that Nevada’s environmental climate, including lithium issues, can be politically messy.

“For people who are in the higher ranks of elected office in the state of Nevada, for one reason or another, it is rare to have somebody who prioritizes environmental justice and energy affordability issues,” Tanager said.

She added it’s not to say there aren’t other important issues elected officials have to take into consideration — such as the fight for democracy, which she said is of “paramount importance” — but as a result, environmental justice issues often fall to the wayside.

One case Ford did boast about signing onto, which is listed in the filing as the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, was a suit targeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s attacks on a program for affordable clean energy for low-income households.

“President Trump has tried to illegally claw back funds from Nevada after hardworking residents of our state have put in the work to address our energy needs,” Ford wrote in a statement. “The president would see Nevadans left high and dry after they committed time and resources to make our state a model of solar energy.”

Tanager said high energy bills are a major concern for Nevadans. 

“They want to see leaders that take on NV Energy bravely, boldly and loudly. They want to see leaders standing up to the technocrats, including data center developers, and Nevadans care very deeply about how our water resources are allocated,” she said. “Too often, our water resources are allocated toward things like urban sprawl, data centers, mining, but we’re not seeing water resources being conserved and used in a way that puts community members at the front of the conversation.”

Oona Milliken contributed to this report.