GOP Senator Cynthia Lummis Blocks Toothless Resolution Denouncing Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Ads

Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis blocked a resolution Tuesday to denounce President Donald Trump’s taxpayer-funded campaign-style advertisements.

Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan’s nonbonding resolution would have declared that campaign ads “should not be paid for by the United States government.” The New Hampshire Democrat attempted to pass the resolution without a formal vote, allowing just one senator to block it.

The ads cost taxpayers at least $2.5 million as of Tuesday. The actual cost of the ad campaign is even higher.

“I just went to the Senate floor to call out President Trump’s taxpayer-funded political ad campaign, but Senate Republicans blocked my resolution,” Hassan said. “Our tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on propaganda campaigns for a President.”

Lummis compared Trump’s ads to former President Bill Clinton’s anti-drug campaign in the 1990s.

“When a Democratic president tells Americans what to do, it’s a public service,” Lummis said on the Senate floor. “When this president tells Americans that liberty is worth defending, it’s suddenly a problem.”

The administration used taxpayer funds to air an ad virtually identical from Trump’s 2024 campaign. It showed Trump walking down a hallway as a voice warned of a “final battle” against the “globalists” and “warmongers.”

Another ad featured clips of Trump talking about defeating communism and touting the administration’s “largest tax cuts in history.” One ad featured dozens of images of Trump at White House events, where he declared “America will never be a communist country” as a choir sings the song, “Love Me” in the background.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued Monday that taxpayers should not pay for the ads.

“It’s a great message. I like the message. But it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Thune told reporters.

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told “Face the Nation” Sunday that taxpayers should not foot the bill for ads that candidates and politicians can pay for themselves.

The White House said Friday that the ads were “public service advertisements” and accused critics of being “deeply dishonest.”

“The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” the White House said. “Instead, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending — at home, at the border, and abroad.”