Federal Judge Orders Halt to Trump Administration Government-Funded Ads Amid Propaganda Claims

A federal judge in Manhattan ordered the Trump administration on Sunday night to halt the airing of government-funded advertisements criticized as political propaganda. The ads were funded through a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract. The ruling came after a coalition including Common Cause and SEIU Local 32BJ filed suit in U.S. District Court. Judge Jennifer Rochon granted the injunction, finding that plaintiffs demonstrated likely success on the merits and potential irreparable harm without the order.

On Sunday night, a federal judge issued an order requiring the administration to halt the broadcast of government-funded advertisements that critics had characterized as designed to sway voters ahead of the midterm election. A $20 million contract awarded by the Department of Homeland Security provided the financing behind those advertisements. Among the plaintiffs who brought the action in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to halt the continued broadcast of the advertisements were the advocacy organization Common Cause and Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, whose offices are based in New York City, with Judge Jennifer Rochon setting out in her order that the motion before her was not moot, that standing to proceed had been established, and that the moving plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits, a probability of irreparable harm without injunctive relief, a balance of equities in their favor, and that granting an injunction would serve the public interest. The coalition's statement described the court's intervention as timely, arguing that no legal basis or established precedent permits a president to direct government resources — funds allocated by Congress for separate purposes — toward shaping electoral results in ways that serve personal political interests, and pledged to keep pressing for adherence to the rule of law as the case proceeds and voters participate in the election.

Federal Judge Orders Halt to Trump Administration Government-Funded Ads Amid Propaganda Claims

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Federal Judge Orders Halt to Trump Administration Government-Funded Ads Amid Propaganda Claims

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