The Justice Department issued a rare apology Monday to a federal judge and a coalition of watchdog groups after pro-Trump campaign advertisements continued airing on national television hundreds of times despite an emergency court order barring them.
“The undersigned apologizes to the Court and the plaintiffs,” a Justice Department attorney wrote in an update to US District Judge Jennifer Rochon Monday evening.
Rochon sided with a coalition of watchdog groups Sunday night, finding that the pro-Trump, taxpayer-funded television advertisements were likely unlawful and ordering them removed from the air immediately.
The judge also directed the government to cancel any additional airtime that had been scheduled for the ads.
In the filing, the Trump administration’s lawyer said some federal employees did not see the emergency order immediately because Monday was a federal holiday. As a result, the cancellation of previously purchased airtime was delayed.
The DOJ attorney told the court that the Trump administration understands it must not “disburse, or transfer” the remaining $20 million in taxpayer funds to “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air” the advertisements at issue.
Trump speaks at the Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, amid ethics concerns over a series of pro-Trump campaign advertisements ahead of the midterm elections
Attendees cheer during the second day of the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
The advertisements featured moments from Trump’s second term and ended with the declaration, “America will never be a communist country”
The DOJ’s apology came hours after the plaintiffs—including the nonpartisan watchdog groups Common Cause and Democracy Forward—told Rochon in a Monday afternoon filing that the ads continued airing for hours after her emergency order took effect. They said the spots appeared in “nearly 400” national television broadcasts after the order was issued.
The groups asked the court to schedule a status conference to assess whether the Trump administration had complied with the order.
It remains unclear whether Rochon will schedule a status conference after receiving the Justice Department’s latest update.
The development follows mounting criticism from ethics lawyers and some congressional Republicans, who have raised concerns that the ads could violate the Hatch Act, the 1939 law restricting the political activity of most executive branch employees.
“The president and his administration have gone from breaking the law to trampling it,” Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics czar under President Barack Obama, told the New York Times about the taxpayer-funded advertisements.
The White House has defended the spots as “educational” and “unconditionally patriotic” public service announcements.
A White House spokesperson told Our News Outlet earlier this month that the updated advertisements were “not unlike” public service announcements aired by previous administrations, including those of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
The televised spots are “clearly not political” and contain no “call to action,” the spokesperson said in response to an earlier request for comment.
“These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” the spokesperson said.
Trump has faced a week of backlash over the advertisements, which were funded with nearly $20 million in taxpayer money and were nearly identical to television spots he ran as a presidential candidate in 2024.
Trump, who is not on the ballot, appeared prominently in every televised spot, which concluded with the line: “Paid for by the US government.”
