Attorney General Ford Secures Court Order Protecting SNAP Benefits

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford released the following statement after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to penalize states with millions of dollars in fines related to their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operations:

“The Trump administration’s destructive and senseless mismanagement of SNAP operations left many Nevadans in limbo when it came to putting food on the table, and now the president is threatening our state with fines over the confusion he caused,” said Attorney General Ford. “I will never let food be ripped away from Nevadans without a fight, and I will not stand by while the Trump administration seeks to penalize Nevada for the chaos it caused in Washington, D.C.”

On November 26, Attorney General Ford joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration after it attempted to cut off SNAP benefits for tens of thousands of lawful permanent residents. On December 10, the administration reversed itself and issued new guidance, confirming that lawful permanent residents — including former refugees and asylees — remain eligible for SNAP benefits. Despite that reversal, the administration continued to threaten states with millions of dollars in fines, claiming that states had missed a required “grace period” for implementing the new guidance, even though the final guidance was not issued until December 10.

Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an order temporarily blocking those penalties. The court’s decision prohibits the federal government’s efforts to impose severe financial penalties on states and protects the continued operation of SNAP programs while the case proceeds.

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