On October 11, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon issued an order blocking the Trump administration from utilizing taxpayer funds to pay for political advertisements. The decision follows a surge of publicly funded television spots that began airing in late September, which drew significant bipartisan backlash. The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs including the watchdog group Common Cause, alleged that the advertisements were not public service announcements but rather political propaganda intended to influence Republican candidates in the upcoming November 3 midterm elections.
In a statement filed with the court on Saturday, October 10, the administration indicated it had already planned to cease running the spots prior to Judge Rochon’s ruling. The controversy surrounding the use of public money for these advertisements had been intensifying in the final weeks leading up to the midterms. Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón stated, "We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable, and no president from any party can waste and abuse taxpayer funds for propaganda ever again."
The White House confirmed that the political action committee associated with President Donald Trump will not reimburse taxpayers for the costs of the ads that have already been broadcast. These advertisements concluded with a disclaimer stating they were paid for by the U.S. government. The Justice Department did not immediately provide a response regarding the judge's order.
The legal challenge, which also included a public employee union and an Alabama state representative candidate, had requested that Judge Rochon temporarily block the ads by Friday to prevent them from airing during high-profile weekend programming, such as football games and "Saturday Night Live." Democratic Party officials have also initiated a separate legal challenge against the advertisements in a federal court in Washington.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen; Additional reporting by Courtney Rozen in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Coates)
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