Nevada AG Ford Highlights Potential Defense Against Trump Administration

Fresh off the trail from the Harris-Walz campaign, Attorney General Aaron Ford (D-NV) highlighted his concerns of an incoming Trump administration in a social media post-election statement and warns that “we will be a bulwark against any effort to impose unconstitutional mandates, override our system of checks and balances, or intrude upon the rights of any Nevada resident.”

Attorney General @AaronDFordNV issues a post-election statement for Nevada. pic.twitter.com/JhY2p54uhZ

— NV Attorney General (@NevadaAG) November 18, 2024

Earlier in the week, Ford shared numerous posts related to Democratic AG’s preparing to battle a Trump administration through legal action. One such article from The Hill entitled, “Democratic AGs rush to form line of defense against Trump” reports:

The days since Trump’s win have seen a surge of Democratic attorneys general stepping up to signal they’re ready to counterbalance the GOP when it takes power in Washington next year.

“If he’s operating lawfully, we’re not going to challenge it. But when he violates the law, we’re not going to hesitate to protect our residents,” Platkin said.

During Trump’s first term, Democratic attorneys general led more than 130 multistate lawsuits against the administration, according to Nolette’s database, and boasted an 83 percent win rate. That was more than twice as many as Republican attorneys general led against the Obama administration, with a 63.5 percent win rate. Against President Biden’s administration so far, Republican AGs have seen a win rate of around 76 percent.

The first Trump administration ushered in a “world of heightened AG activism,” Nolette said, making the latest crop of state legal officers “much more proactive in getting ready for challenges that currently don’t even exist.”

The role of the Democratic AG is the most critical, I think, in this moment in time,” Campbell said, arguing they’re “on the front line.”And that defense doesn’t always look like lawsuits, experts noted. State attorneys general often write letters to congressional leaders, participate in the notice-and-comment rule-making stage and speak out about certain policies.

In his statement, Ford opines for a peaceful four years, but warns: “Trump oversees an administration that does not vilify communities that have been targets of hateful animus. But make no mistake, my office stands ready for the alternative, and we will be a bulwark against any effort to impose unconstitutional mandates, override our system of checks and balances, or intrude upon the rights of any Nevada resident.

Ford then emphasizes the recently amended state constitution and adds, “There is no one way to be a “Nevadan. The residents of our great state -whether they’ve been here for 3 weeks or are third- generation Nevadans.” Ford implies that he is preparing for Trump’s Day One Agenda which includes a targeted, mass deportation of criminal migrants and sweeping immigration policy and the elimination of government-sponsored DEI initiatives.

In June, AG Ford announced he had joined a coalition of attorneys general to “refute baseless attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and programs.”

“The ongoing, unwarranted attacks on DEI initiatives in this country are based on legal falsehoods and efforts to intimidate companies and organizations into disregarding diversity and equality,” said AG Ford. “DEI programs are an important step toward remediating racial inequities, and efforts to dismantle these programs are based on disingenuous arguments at best and outright maliciousness at worst.”