VICTORY! Coalition Secures Second Court Order Blocking Trump and MAGA Inc. from Promoting Taxpayer-Funded Propaganda Ads
NEW YORK — Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a second temporary restraining order, once again preventing the Trump-Vance administration and the president's super PAC, MAGA Inc., from using taxpayer funds to create and air partisan political ads in the lead-up to Election Day.
The coalition responsible for securing this key victory includes government watchdog group Common Cause, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ and its Empire State PAC, and candidate for Alabama State House Robert Hunter. They are represented by Campaign Legal Center Action, Democracy Forward, and Public Integrity Project Action, Inc., in the matter.
In mid-October, this coalition secured a key victory that blocked President Trump's taxpayer-funded television ads from airing. However, the super PAC, MAGA Inc. then aired some of these ads that were created using government and taxpayer resources, and the White House kept the ads on official government websites and social media.
Because of this, our coalition asked the court to expand the temporary restraining order we previously won to block further dissemination of the ads on official White House social media channels and prevent their continued circulation on television through MAGA Inc.
"Today, the rule of law prevailed,” said Renata O’Donnell, senior legal counsel for Campaign Legal Center Action. “President Trump and his administration's political advertising scheme is clearly unlawful and a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars. Now, because of this victory, three illegal pieces of government-funded propaganda will be taken off official government channels and off the air and won’t be able to unlawfully influence the election. No president, no administration, and no super PAC is above the law."
"We fought to turn off these ads because our tax dollars should serve the American people, not the president's ego or political war chest. The court rightfully recognized this scheme for what it was: an unlawful attempt to use public funds for partisan propaganda right in the middle of an election. This decision will ensure our tax dollars are used responsibly, and anyone who tries to abuse public funds for partisan purposes will be held accountable," said Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause.
"It was always obvious what the Trump administration was doing here: abusing taxpayer dollars to fund illegal propaganda," said Robert Hunter, candidate for Alabama House District 28. "Families in my district are struggling to make ends meet, but instead of working to improve their lives, this president is focused on his partisan political project. Alabama families deserve better, and today's victory is a win for them."
"This temporary restraining order will stop the administration's wanton disregard for the law while the court hears the full case," said Democracy Forward Senior Counsel Bradley Girard. "Congress has made clear that partisan ads cannot be funded with taxpayer dollars, and we are proud to work with this coalition to earn today's result."
“The most astounding part of the defendants’ scheme was the brazenness of it. Did they really think no one would notice that they were spending taxpayer money for campaign ads?” said Public Integrity Project Action CEO Brendan Ballou. “We’re grateful that the court saw what everyone who watched these ads saw: that they were paid for by the U.S. government. And that’s illegal.”
Background:
In late September 2026, the federal government ran three television advertisements featuring President Donald Trump. The three ads were paid for by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These ads were part of a coordinated advertising campaign that was disseminated to voters through paid media channels. In addition, these ads were publicly released, broadcast to a broad audience, and formed part of an overall effort to communicate with and persuade voters during the election. Each ad presented a different message, but together they operated as components of a single electoral communications strategy.
DHS paid for the advertisements with money Congress appropriated for unrelated reasons. The actions of DHS are therefore illegal.
Campaign Legal Center Action, Democracy Forward and the Public Integrity Project, on behalf of SEIU Local 32BJ, Empire State 32BJ SEIU PAC, Common Cause and Alabama state congressional candidate Robert Hunter, filed a lawsuit seeking to get these ads taken off the air and to prevent the government from running these kinds of ads in the future. In addition to filing a lawsuit, Campaign Legal Center also filed a Hatch Act complaint related to these ads and Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.
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