Joe Lombardo has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. On top of being slammed for being silent in the face of Trump’s pardons of violent rioters and proposing a budget with an unprecedented unconstitutional deficit, Cook Political Report named Lombardo one of the two most vulnerable incumbents of the 2026 gubernatorial cycle.
This week, in the wake of Donald Trump’s pardons of over 1,500 rioters who were either convicted or charged for crimes committed during the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol that led to the death of a law enforcement officer, Lombardo dodged reporter questions and refused to condemn Trump’s pardons — including hundreds who attacked police officers. Lombardo, the former Sheriff who campaigned on “law and order”, has refused to stand up for law enforcement and speak out against the pardoning of hundreds of violent rioters who assaulted police officers during their siege of the capitol, which resulted in 140 police officers being injured.
Last week, two days after touting fiscal responsibility, Lombardo fired his budget director after he presented an unconstitutionally unbalanced budget. Democrats raised alarm bells that Lombardo’s budget had a structural deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars and reallocated funding that legally can not be reallocated.
Then, in yet another display of incompetence, Lombardo finished the week off with his brand new state finance system already breaking as it fails to pay out critical state expenses, including child support and health savings account payments. This comes just days after Lombardo bragged that he was “proud to announce that the first phase of the financial system went live on January 2 and is now paying Nevada’s bills”. Whoops!
Read more about Lombardo’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week below:
The Nevada Current: Lombardo silent on Trump’s clemency of January 6 violent offenders
1/23/25
- President Donald Trump’s indiscriminate release of some 1,600 January 6 insurrection defendants, including those convicted of violent crimes against police, is meeting with mixed reviews from law enforcement, and with silence from Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who served as sheriff of Clark County before his election in 2022 as governor.
- Lombardo’s identity as a “law and order” candidate was integral to his campaign – so much so that he was fined $20,000 for displaying the trappings of being sheriff in his gubernatorial campaign ads, a violation of ethics laws.
- Like Lombardo, Republican Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, who is also a former cop, did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s wholesale pardons and acts of clemency.
- “Assaulting or attacking a police officer – we take great offense to those charges and those actions by people, and they should be held to standards of the law,” Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, which represents more than 3,000 Metropolitan Police officers Lombardo once led, told the Current during a phone interview Wednesday.
Nevada Independent: Nevada Democrats say Lombardo’s budget has ‘serious fiscal issues,’ $335M deficit
1/21/25
- Legislative Democrats say they’ve identified a more than $300 million deficit in Gov. Joe Lombardo’s recommended two-year budget.
- In the year’s first legislative budget meeting Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers said the budget released last week went $335 million in the red without offsetting revenue, which would represent about 2.5 percent of the two-year budget. Nevada’s Constitution requires the Legislature to pass a balanced budget, where revenues must equal expenditures.
- Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) said they’ve identified a $300 to $400 million deficit, driven by a $1.8 billion increase in general fund operating expenses for ongoing projects and an estimated $300 million for Lombardo’s bill priorities that have not yet been accounted for.
- “We and our staff have confirmed that the budget is in fact not balanced,” Cannizzaro said. “Such a deficit would quickly create ongoing fiscal difficulties for the state.”
- She said lawmakers have a responsibility to fix the budget and gave the governor a 5 p.m. Jan. 29 deadline to submit an amendment.
- “I think it’s safe to say that we are facing a very unprecedented situation with this budget proposal,” Cannizzaro said. “I have been here for a short bit, but cannot recall a time where the governor sent the Legislature a budget that just simply didn’t add up.”
- Lombardo’s administration on Friday fired the director of the Governor’s Finance Office, Amy Stephenson, according to sources. She has been replaced by Tiffany Greenameyer, the deputy director of fiscal services at the Department of Health and Human Services, the governor’s office announced minutes before Tuesday’s meeting began in a press release that did not mention Stephenson.
- Greenameyer acknowledged the issues during the meeting, saying “the governor’s recommended budget, as submitted, included errors.”
- The state’s Economic Forum — a panel of private-sector economists whose revenue projections are legally required to form the size of each two-year budget — predicted in December that the state’s general fund will generate about $6.13 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2026 and $6.4 billion in fiscal year 2027.
- Lombardo’s proposed budget, however, calls for $6.37 billion in expenditures in fiscal year 2026 and $6.4 billion for fiscal year 2027.
- A spokesperson for Lombardo did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
3 News: Lawmakers find ‘serious issues’ with Nevada governor’s proposed budget
1/21/25
- One of Nevada’s legislative leaders says there are “serious issues” with the governor’s proposed budget to cover the next two years of state operations.
- Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro said Tuesday legislative leaders found “serious issues” with the budget during a review over the weekend.
- Speaking during a budget subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Cannizzaro said the budget is not balanced, with spending expected to exceed revenue and create a structural deficit of $300-$400 million.
News 4 (KXRI): Gov. Lombardo’s finance chief replaced as ‘major structural issues’ in budget identified
- Less than 2 weeks before the start of the Nevada legislative session and following ‘major structural issues’ identified in his proposed budget, Gov. Joe Lombardo announced that he has replaced his finance director.
- It comes as legislative Democrats raised ‘very serious’ issues with the governor’s proposed budget. Senate majority leader Nicole Cannizzaro said during a budget subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning that staff confirmed his proposed budget was not balanced and would create a $300-$400 million structural deficit.
- “I cannot recall a time where the governor sent the legislature a budget that just simply didn’t add up,” she said. “We are now left with a budget that is neither workable nor sustainable. And it’s our responsibility to the people of Nevada to fix it.”
- A spokesperson for Gov. Lombardo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
What they’re saying:
Ben Margiott: “NEW: Sen. Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro says staff confirmed this weekend Gov. Lombardo’s proposed budget was not balanced and would create a $300-400M structural deficit.
She called it a ‘very unprecedented situation’ and says they’ll ask for major amendments by Jan. 29”
Dana Gentry: “Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cinazzaro says Dem lawmakers and staff confirmed Joe Lombardo’s proposed executive budget does not add up. Wants proposed changes by COB Jan. 29”
Casey Harrison: “Developing this AM: Gov. Joe Lombardo’s staff is meeting with state lawmakers to discuss the proposed budget his office submitted, which Democratic officials would contain a $335M structural deficit.
The state constitution mandates the state cannot pass a budget w/ deficit.”
Dana Gentry: “Tiffany Greenameyer from Lombardo’s office admits errors in budgeting, attempts to review changes.”
Eric Neugeboren: “A memo went out to state employees yesterday alerting them of issues with pay disbursements, vendor payments and child support/HSA payments. This is related to the new finance system that went live this month and was touted in the governor’s State of the State address.”
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