Trump hit with second lawsuit over taxpayer-funded political propaganda ads

The Trump administration was hit with a second lawsuit Wednesday over its use of taxpayer money to air campaign-style television ads promoting President Donald Trump just weeks before the midterm elections.

Common Cause, a Democratic state legislative candidate and two SEIU groups* sued the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Management and Budget and senior administration officials in federal court in New York, alleging the government illegally diverted public money to produce what the plaintiffs call partisan political propaganda.

The lawsuit came the same day the Democratic National Committee (DNC) filed a separate challenge in Washington, D.C., seeking to stop the administration from using federal funds for the ad campaign. The DNC lawsuit similarly argues that the government is improperly using taxpayer resources to influence the midterms.

The new complaint focuses heavily on exactly how the administration found the money.

According to the filing, OMB increased by $20 million a pool of Customs and Border Protection funding designated for commemorative events related to border security.

The next day, DHS signed a $20 million advertising contract. Congress had described the commemorative funding as covering events such as memorials for officers killed in the line of duty, agency anniversaries and ceremonies honoring crime victims.

The pro-voting plaintiffs argue that using those funds for ads praising Trump violates federal appropriations restrictions barring taxpayer money from being spent on unauthorized “publicity or propaganda.”

One of the ads is effectively a repurposed Trump 2024 campaign spot, with its campaign disclaimer replaced by the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government,” according to the complaint.

The administration has defended the spots as public service announcements that are “educational and unapologetically patriotic.”

As of Wednesday morning, the complaint says the government-backed ads had aired nearly 14,000 times, generated an estimated 1.39 billion impressions and cost taxpayers about $12.6 million.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to block further taxpayer funding for the ads, invalidate the $20 million funding shift and advertising contract, and require the administration to try to recover money that has not yet been spent.

*Democracy Forward represents the pro-voting plaintiffs in this case. Democracy Docket Founder Marc Elias is the chair of Democracy Forward’s board.