Nevada joins lawsuit challenging USDA's suspension of SNAP benefits

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford prepares to speak at a news conference at the Nevada Attorney General’s Las Vegas office Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo by: Sun file photo

Nevada has joined a lawsuit challenging the United States Department of Agriculture’s upcoming suspension of SNAP benefits, which provide $90 million a month to around 500,000 Nevadans.

The USDA, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, wrote in a recent notice that the “well has run dry” amid the government shutdown, now in its 28th day. No benefits will be disbursed on Saturday when the new month begins.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, is disputing the department’s claim, writing in a statement that the federal government is choosing not to fund SNAP, pointing out that the USDA has tapped into other emergency funds during the shutdown.

“The Trump Administration’s choice to cut SNAP benefits is not only a deliberate, cruel and extraordinarily harmful decision, it is unlawful,” Ford wrote. “I understand the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, because I’ve lived it. I don’t wish that stress on any Nevadan.”

But the USDA argued in a memo published by Axios that the contingency funding is only used to supplement “regular monthly benefits,” not replace them entirely when nothing has been appropriated. 

The coalition of 23 attorneys general behind the lawsuit is also looking to file a restraining order later today to “immediately turn benefits back on,” Ford’s office wrote.

Ford ended his statement urging Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican and Ford’s main opponent in next year’s gubernatorial race, to work with his party and President Donald Trump “to ensure that Nevadans receive their SNAP benefits.”

Lombardo had a similar message for Nevada’s Democrats in Congress, asking them to urge U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., to vote in favor of a continuing resolution to reopen the government. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., was one of a handful of Democrats to vote for the legislation.

Democrats have held their votes out over the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, which are expiring at the end of the year. Without it, average premiums for Nevadan ACA marketplace enrollees with financial assistance could rise by 132%, according to the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

Citing the USDA, Lombardo has said that the state cannot directly fund the SNAP program. But the governor’s office is looking to use $38.8 million for the “Food Insecurity Nevada Plan.”

While $8.6 million is from emergency work programs, the remaining $30.2 million will need to be approved by the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee. The committee will be meeting Thursday afternoon.

Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine, a Democrat, applauded Ford’s lawsuit, saying the Trump administration is violating federal law and “putting up unnecessary roadblocks” for Nevadans “who are just days away from not being able to put food on their tables.”

Conine added that he is looking at other ways to use state funding “to keep Nevadans fed this November.”

“I’m glad to see the AG’s office take Trump to court over this cruel, reckless, and deliberate decision to withhold available SNAP funds from the Nevadans who need them,” Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, wrote on social media.