In late September, the Trump Administration began airing what it described as public-service announcements on television outlets. One features President Donald Trump vowing to eradicate “communism, socialism, and Marxism” and touting “the largest tax cut in history.” Another recycles a 2024 presidential campaign ad, complete with the predictable cast of villains including the “deep state,” “globalists,” and the “fake news media.”
The ads glorifying Trump proudly proclaimed that they were paid for by the U.S. government—that is, taxpayers. After intense bipartisan criticism, he now says his super PAC will pick up the tab, but he has no intention of paying taxpayers back for the spots that have already aired.
That is not acceptable, and it is time for Congress to demand accountability.
According to news reports, the Office of Management and Budget redirected $20 million from the Department of Homeland Security for these ads at the President’s request. Trump’s announcement that MAGA Inc. will pay for the ads going forward is a necessary concession but does not resolve the underlying violation. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for a single penny of Trump’s partisan ads.
The ads are not public service announcements, and the ethical and legal questions they raise are serious.
First, Trump’s super PAC had more than $415 million on hand at the end of August, according to Federal Election Commission filings. His PAC has no shortage of funds to promote him and his political agenda. The White House claimed these ads were educational and “patriotic” communications made in the public interest. But if that is true, why is a super PAC now paying for the ads?
Second, a federal law called the Hatch Act restricts covered federal employees from using their official positions to influence elections. Though the President himself is exempt from this law, the staffers and agencies that created, funded, and placed these commercials are not.
The use of congressionally appropriated funds also raises questions under federal restrictions on domestic “publicity and propaganda.” Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, called the ads “sheer propaganda.”
So far, Republican leaders in Congress have largely declined to demand accountability as the President takes a wrecking ball to the rule of law and pads his and his family’s bank accounts. A few have expressed their “concern” at this latest offense.
Said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “I don’t think any public official, including President Trump … should spend public money on private ads for themselves.” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, chimed in that it “feels like Viktor Orbán talking to the Hungarian people.” Representative Thomas Massie, Repubilcan of Kentucky, wrote that using taxpayer dollars for presidential campaign ads is “completely legal … in banana republics.”
But selective, carefully worded critiques are not oversight. Accountability requires document reviews, hearings, subpoenas, and consequences for illegal actions. In this case, it requires a reimbursement of misappropriated taxpayer dollars.
This failure to demand accountability at this moment is part of a broader pattern. Minted gold coins bear Trump’s image. His likeness is printed on U.S. passports and National Park passes. Banners on federal buildings feature his image. He keeps trying and failing to put his name on the Kennedy Center.
Trump continually tests how far he can go, and it is the job of Congress to impose limits. The response to his use of tax dollars to fund political propaganda cannot be yet another collective shrug over another shattered norm. What has happened is a violation of the law, but the rule of law is only meaningful when people with power are willing to enforce it.
That is what makes this upcoming election so critical. The question before voters is not merely which party will control Congress. It is whether we will have a Congress that does its duty and serves as a check on a President who treats the U.S. Treasury as his own personal campaign fund—or will we continue to see a Congress ready to bend a knee and serve as a stable of sycophants defending whatever he does.
Every member of Congress swears an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not to a President. We need members of Congress who will live up to that oath.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.
