Federal judge orders Trump administration to halt taxpayer funded ads

A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration on Sunday evening to cancel any further airings of the taxpayer funded television ads promoting President Donald Trump's agenda, siding for now with a coalition of challengers who called the campaign an unprecedented use of public money for politics.

Judge Jennifer Rochon granted the temporary restraining order after the Justice Department told her the ad push was scheduled to end Sunday night anyway. Rochon said that timing did not make the case moot and ordered the government to halt any further airings as of 6:45 p.m. Eastern.

The administration had allocated $20 million for the ads, classified as public service announcements, from the budget of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. An advertising firm, LMD Agency Inc., bought the media time, and a senior Homeland Security official said in a sworn declaration that the buys ran through Sunday, October 11, at a cost of about $19 million. The department directed the firm to make no additional buys and said it had no plans for more.

The ads, which carried the unusual disclaimer paid for by the U.S. government, drew objections from lawmakers in both parties when they began airing late last month. On October 5 Trump acknowledged the backlash and said he had decided to pay for the patriotic ads himself, using money he raised for his super PAC, MAGA Inc. Six days later the taxpayer funded spots were still on the air.

Common Cause, the nonprofit watchdog that led the legal challenge, argued the campaign violated laws against using public funds for partisan promotion. The administration has called the spots educational and unapologetically patriotic.

The restraining order is temporary. Further court proceedings will decide whether the ad campaign, already ended by its own schedule, can be revived with public money.