House Democrats call for GAO to investigate government-funded Trump ads

A pair of House Democrats called on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate government-funded ads featuring President Trump that aired last month.

Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and George Whitesides (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the GAO leadership asking for an investigation into why “the American people are apparently paying for Donald Trump to create desperate preelection propaganda.”

“These ads constitute an illegal use of taxpayer funds, perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that they are virtually identical to the ones Donald Trump used during his 2024 presidential campaign, and in fact use the same footage and the same inept ideological messaging,” the lawmakers continued.

The letter accused Trump of violating multiple federal laws by using taxpayer money to fund the TV ads — including the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 , which states that no appropriated funds may be used “for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States” unless authorized by Congress.

They also cited the Antideficiency Act and other federal criminal statutes.

Raskin and Whitesides concluded in their letter that the GAO has “an important responsibility to hold accountable members of his Administration who violate the laws and policies under your purview.”

A GAO spokesperson told The Hill it had received the congressional request, saying, “GAO has a process it goes through to determine whether we do work and when, which we are working through right now.”

The federal government released multiple ads last month centering on different points in the Trump agenda. The White House has labeled the ads as “public service announcements.” The ad’s disclaimer reads, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”

When asked about the ad campaign, Trump told reporters , “I’m not running for office, first of all.”

“When I’m talking about making America great, making our country great, that’s a countrywide ad. That’s an ad for the spirit of our country,” the president said.

Federal Communications Commission head Brendan Carr said the ad struck him as “normal course public service announcements that you see all the time,” adding that it does not warrant any review by the agency.

The ad campaign has received criticism from Republicans in the upper chamber as well.

“It’s a great message. I like the message, but it shouldn’t be paid for by taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday.