A US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to cancel any remaining taxpayer-funded ads promoting President Donald Trump’s political message, including commercials due to air on Sunday night.
Judge Jennifer L Rochon, sitting in New York, issued a temporary restraining order after siding with a coalition including the non-partisan watchdog Common Cause, which argued that the campaign represented an unlawful use of public money.
Her order prevents the administration from entering into, renewing or expanding agreements covering the development, production, distribution, placement or broadcasting of the disputed advertisements for two weeks.
The ruling came as the administration said the advertising campaign was coming to an end. In a court filing, the Justice Department argued that the order was unnecessary because “the alleged offending conduct will end tomorrow”.
The Department of Homeland Security allocated $20 million in taxpayer funds to the campaign. Legal experts have suggested that spending may breach a federal law prohibiting the use of money appropriated by Congress for “publicity or propaganda”, as well as potentially violating other laws.
Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs, said the decision would stop further public money being used for what it called “blatantly unlawful political propaganda”. The group said there was “no legal justification — and no precedent” for a president to use government resources and money intended for other purposes to influence electoral outcomes.
In a court declaration, senior DHS official Holly Mehringer said the funds had been appropriated by Congress and were available for, among other things, “commemorating efforts and events related to border security”. DHS awarded LMD Agency $20 million for a national media campaign beginning on September 20.
The White House has defended the commercials as public service announcements similar to those used by previous administrations. A White House official said they were “clearly not political”, adding that Mr Trump was not on the ballot and that the adverts contained no call to action.
However, the advertisements have glorified Mr Trump and echoed his political messaging ahead of the midterm elections. One features him discussing the threat of communism, while another reuses an advert from his previous presidential campaign. A fifth commercial focused on the administration’s capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The campaign prompted criticism from Republicans as well as Democrats. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.” Republican Senator John Kennedy also said no public official should spend public money on private advertisements for themselves.
Mr Trump has said he would pay for the commercials through a political fundraising account after the backlash. The White House said there were no immediate plans to reimburse the government for money already spent.
The Democratic National Committee has separately sued the Republican administration over the advertising campaign. Lawyers for musician JMSN have also demanded that the White House stop using his song “Love Me” in one of the adverts, saying he had never authorised his music to be used for “ANY political agenda or campaign”.
