The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration Wednesday over its taxpayer-funded ads that portray President Donald Trump in a favorable light, alleging that the ads violate federal laws on government spending and propaganda.
The DNC cited a measure signed by Trump this year that says funds appropriated by Congress cannot be used “for advertising or propaganda purposes in the United States not previously authorized by Congress.”
The lawsuit also cites the Anti-Deficiency Act, which prohibits spending government money that has not been approved by Congress, and the Purpose Statute, which states that taxpayer funds can only be used for specific purposes approved by Congress.
The DNC said the administration’s use of taxpayer dollars for “campaign-style ads” deprived Democrats “of a fair election process by adding public funds to the resources available to support Republican candidates.” The use of public funds puts Democratic candidates at an electoral disadvantage, he says.
The watchdog group Common Cause filed its own lawsuit making similar legal arguments, alleging the administration violated appropriations laws.
The ads, launched last month, drew criticism from lawmakers on both sides, many of whom questioned their legality.
Trump reversed course Monday, announcing on Truth Social that he would no longer use government funds for ads and saying he and his PAC, MAGA Inc., would foot the bill instead. He did not say whether the government would be reimbursed for ads already aired.
Contacted for comment on the lawsuits, the White House pointed NBC News to Trump’s Truth Social message. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget, which are named as defendants alongside Trump and the White House, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Since Trump’s announcement, several advertisements have continued to run stating that they were funded by the US government.
Asked by NBC News whether these amounts were paid before or after Trump committed to covering the costs, the White House did not respond in either case.
A person familiar with the ads said ad buying for the spots, placed before Trump’s announcement Monday, would end this week. Then, the person said, outside groups will start paying for the ads.
NBC News reported that a $20 million contract was awarded to a Maryland company for the ad campaign. AdImpact, a political ad tracking company, estimated that at least $10 million had been spent running the ads through Monday.
The DNC’s lawyers asked a federal judge in Washington to find that the administration acted illegally “in developing and airing propaganda ads using funds appropriated by Congress” and to prevent it from using those funds to develop and air those ads in the future.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin condemned the administration for using taxpayer dollars as Americans struggle with the rising cost of living.
“Americans deserve better than to see their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
Omar Noureldin, Common Cause’s senior vice president of policy and litigation, said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday that the group is bringing the action “because we want to ensure that no president, regardless of party, can misuse public funds to finance political self-promotion without congressional approval.”
“It appears that the $20 million that was contracted for this has not yet been fully spent, and so they will continue to run ads funded by taxpayer dollars, and so we think we need to stop this now, and no more dollars of taxpayer money should be spent on these ads,” Noureldin said.
Federal money for the ads came from funds earmarked for Customs and Border Protection, a branch of DHS. NBC News reported that CBP leadership was left out of the decision to air the ads.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, said last week that the ads did not merit review by the FCC, arguing that they were “nothing out of the ordinary at all.”
The White House defended the ads as “clearly non-political” and saying they were intended to “remind Americans to love their country.” He also pointed to other administrations’ use of public safety announcements.
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