Trump propaganda ads funded by taxpayers to stop, DHS says
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told a court it would stop buying taxpayer-funded ads for President Donald Trump.
The department said in a late Saturday federal court filing that its ads “will not continue past” Sunday and that it “has no plans to make any additional media buys” for the campaign-style pro-Trump commercials broadcast on network stations ahead of the midterms.
Three separate lawsuits argue legal restrictions on government communications prohibit the ads.
The administration’s statement comes after Common Cause, alongside two labor unions and a Democratic state senate candidate in Alabama, sued DHS and top White House officials last week to block the ads. They argued the $20 million ads went beyond the Government Accountability Office’s definition of acceptable political advertisements.
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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved a request for funds the same day U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an arm of DHS, submitted it. It then issued the money for “national media buys” a day later on Sept. 20.
While DHS, through attorneys at the Department of Justice, indicated it would not continue buying ads, the Department maintained that the ads should not be blocked with a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) as plaintiffs request.
DHS did not directly address the legality of the ads, instead arguing the plaintiffs lacked standing and evidence of injury or harm because they aren’t competing “in the same arena” with Trump.
Plaintiffs have argued Trump’s comments that voters should “pretend I’m on the ballot” in the midterms suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile, DHS said its media contracts are up, vowing any money not used for the ads after Sunday will be “de-obligated.”
“DHS has directed its vendor not to make any additional media buys past October 11 and has no plans to make any additional media buys or otherwise use appropriated funds on any similar contracts,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Oestericher wrote in the response.
Plaintiffs in the case are due to respond by 1 p.m. Sunday, with a hearing set in the case for Tuesday afternoon. The Trump administration is currently fighting three parallel suits seeking to block the ads.