Joe Lombardo jetted off to a high-dollar D.C. fundraiser the very same week that hundreds of thousands of Nevadans lost SNAP benefits and saw their health care premiums skyrocket. Instead of using his time in D.C. to call on his own party to rise above partisan politics, lower health care costs, and reopen the government, Lombardo is being hosted by former Republican Governors Association (RGA) Executive Director Phil Cox, who is a staunch opponent of the ACA and Medicaid expansion.
While food banks are forced to help sustain half a million Nevadans who have seen their SNAP benefits be slashed, Lombardo refuses to call on the Trump administration to use the $6 billion in USDA contingency funds to fully pay out those benefits.
This isn’t the first time Lombardo vanished when Nevadans were in crisis. In August 2025, Lombardo ditched his own press conference on the statewide cyberattack for a campaign event and waited five days to address the public.
Read more below:
Nevada Current: Lombardo puts Nevadans’ woes on back burner, jets to D.C. for fundraiser
Key points:
- Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is slated to attend a $5,000-a plate fundraiser in his honor Thursday in Washington, D.C., as close to half a million Nevadans struggle to make do with a fraction of federal food assistance benefits, another 100,000 face the prospect of unaffordable health insurance, and an unknown number lose jobs or go unpaid as a result of the federal government shutdown.
- President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have refused to negotiate with Senate Democrats, who have thus far held fast against passing a continuing resolution to reopen the government unless Republicans negotiate a plan to address skyrocketing Affordable Care Act premiums.
- Nevadans who get their health care through the ACA could see premiums increase by 26%, though Democrats as well as industry researchers warn the additional costs will be much higher for many people if they no longer receive enhanced premium tax credits. A 60 year-old couple in Nevada could see annual premiums rise by $18,100, the New York Times reported last month.
- In addition to curtailed food assistance programs and rising costs, Nevada is confronting other economic headwinds, including visitation to Las Vegas plunging 8.8% in September, the ninth straight month of declines this year.
- Lombardo’s office did not respond when asked whether the governor considered cancelling his fundraiser in light of challenges facing Nevadans.
- Lombardo’s office did not respond when asked whether the governor considered cancelling his fundraiser in light of challenges facing Nevadans.
- It’s the second time in recent months that Lombardo has put critical state business on the back burner and prioritized his reelection effort over an emergency.
- In August, the governor missed the first news conference on a cyberattack of state computer systems and the resulting shutdown of state government offices to attend a campaign event in Elko. Some government services were disrupted for weeks.
- Lombardo, who generally mentions Washington D.C. only to note its tangled bureaucracy, is being hosted at an undisclosed location by former Republican Governors Association Executive Director Phil Cox, according to an invitation provided to the Current.
- Cox, who has led numerous Republican campaigns, is an opponent of expanded Medicaid, and as head of the RGA, opposed the Affordable Care Act and issued statements from Republican governors in opposition.
###
