A federal judge issued a temporary order Sunday to block the Trump administration from airing taxpayer-funded campaign-style television commercials.
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U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in Manhattan wrote in an order that the administration must “cancel or cause to be cancelled” any ads from airing or dissemination, including those that were scheduled to air Sunday evening.
Her decision came after the Department of Homeland Security said in a court filing Saturday that the ads would “not continue” past Sunday and that it had no plans to purchase additional ad spaces past that date. President Donald Trump said earlier that campaign funds would be used to pay for the ads going forward.
The two-week order prohibits the administration from “using, disbursing, or transferring funds” appropriated to DHS to “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air” the commercials.
The ads, which began airing in late September, included one that resembled a commercial for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and another of him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth advocating the Iran war.
They were paid for with $20 million the Office of Management and Budget added to a DHS budget line for “commemorative events,” The Washington Post previously reported. Congress had approved that spending for “Line-of-Duty death memorials, Department or agency anniversaries, and commendation ceremonies,” according to a House Budget Committee report.
The lawsuit challenging the commercials was brought by a coalition including the advocacy group Common Cause. It argued that the ads violate federal law prohibiting agencies from using taxpayer money for unauthorized “publicity and propaganda.”
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Rochon wrote that the plaintiffs are “likely to succeed on the merits” of their challenge and “will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”
Trump has not publicly commented on the order, but after backlash from Democrats and some Republicans, he said on Oct. 5 that his super PAC would cover future ad costs.
In a statement issued by Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization, the coalition said it was “pleased the court acted swiftly,” calling the ads “blatantly unlawful political propaganda.”
The White House, OMB and DHS did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment.
Last week, the Democratic National Committee filed a separate lawsuit over the ads, arguing that they violate campaign spending rules and make it harder for the group’s candidates to compete.
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