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Monday, November 2, 2026

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Elections · Monday, November 2, 2026

Judge orders three government ads taken off official sites

The File desk · Nov. 2, 2026, 6:37 a.m. ET

Partially confirmed4 primary sources

Status

Partially confirmed. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon's October 30, 2026 order in case requires the government to stop distributing three named advertisements and to remove them from official sites. The order lasts 14 days from that day unless the court extends it. What happened to the ads afterward is the plaintiffs' letter, not a court finding.
  • Confirmed
    The written order bars dissemination of three titled ads, orders them off official websites including social media, and orders cancellation of third-party placements including MAGA Inc.
  • Confirmed
    The government asked the same day to drop the MAGA Inc. portion. This desk did not open an order granting that request.
  • Partially confirmed
    The plaintiffs' October 31 letter says the ads stayed up into the next day. That letter is their account. This desk did not open a compliance finding.
A federal judge ordered the government on October 30, 2026, to stop distributing three advertisements, "$5,000 to Americans," "Every Democrat Voted Against No Tax on Tips," and "Cost of Socialism," and to take them off official websites. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon's order, in case , lasts 14 days from that day unless the court extends it.1
The plaintiffs are Common Cause, Robert Hunter, Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, and Empire State 32BJ SEIU PAC. The defendants include the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the Office of Management and Budget and Director Russell Vought, the Executive Office of the President, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. A temporary restraining order is a short court command meant to hold things in place until a fuller hearing. This one expands an order from October 11 that the parties had agreed to extend until November 20.1
Rochon wrote that the moving plaintiffs had shown "a clear and substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their ultra vires claim" as to at least three ads, plus irreparable harm. An ultra vires claim says officials used power the law does not give them. The order grants the request in part and denies it in part. It tells the defendants to remove the three ads from official sites, "including social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, or other similar sites," and to cancel third-party placements, "including airing of the advertisements by MAGA Inc." They must serve the order on MAGA Inc. and file a status report within 24 hours. The order says the court is entering it at 3:20 p.m. and does not name a time zone. The reasons, it says, were stated in a bench decision the same day. This desk did not open a transcript.1
The government asked the same day to drop the requirement that the defendants cancel placements by MAGA Inc. Its letter says MAGA Inc. is not a party and that the named defendants cannot control it. This desk did not open a later order granting that request.2
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. The order ties the ads to the weeks before the November 3 election and tells federal offices to stop using official sites for these three. It runs 14 days from October 30 unless the court extends it. Counting those days lands on November 13; the order does not print that date or the hour the 14 days end. A hearing already on the docket in the older part of the case is November 4 at 11:30 a.m. in New York. People who meet these messages on a government account are the ones the order is written to reach.
A letter from the plaintiffs on October 31 says the order "was read from the bench on October 30 and docketed at 3:24 p.m." and that "it was not until after noon today that Defendants unlisted the ads covered by the Court's order from the White House's YouTube page." The letter also says "at least one of the ads remains on the White House's Instagram page." That is the plaintiffs' account, not a finding by the judge.3
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Order, Common Cause v. Department of Homeland Security, Case No. (JLR), Document 101, filed October 30, 2026, signed by Jennifer L. Rochon. The court is entering the order at 3:20 p.m. It does not name a time zone. It remains in effect until 14 days from that day, subject to extension. An October 11 temporary restraining order, dockets 41 and 42, was extended on consent until November 20, 2026, docket 80. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.101.0.pdf
  2. 2.Letter from the defendants, Document 102, dated October 30, 2026, asking the court to amend the order so the defendants are not required to cancel placements by MAGA Inc. The letter says MAGA Inc. is not a party. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.102.0.pdf
  3. 3.Letter from the plaintiffs, Document 103, dated October 31, 2026. It says the order was docketed at 3:24 p.m. and describes the timing of removals from YouTube and Instagram. Those sentences are the plaintiffs' account. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.103.0.pdf A scheduling order already on the docket set a preliminary-injunction hearing for November 4, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. in Courtroom 20B, 500 Pearl Street, New York. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74934579/common-cause-v-department-of-homeland-security/

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Whether 3:20 p.m. and 3:24 p.m. are Eastern time. The order and the letter do not say. The courthouse in the letter is in New York.
  • Whether the court amended the order after the government's letter about MAGA Inc. This desk did not open such an order.
  • Whether the ads were in fact removed. The October 31 letter is the plaintiffs' account, not a court finding.
  • The bench decision. The written order says the reasons were stated on the record. This desk did not open a transcript.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Order, Document 101

    U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, via CourtListener · October 30, 2026

    Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered three named advertisements removed from official sites on October 30, 2026. The order lasts 14 days unless extended.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.101.0.pdf

  2. Source 2

    Defendants' letter, Document 102

    U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, via CourtListener · October 30, 2026

    The government asked the court to remove the part of the order that reaches placements by MAGA Inc.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.102.0.pdf

  3. Source 3

    Plaintiffs' letter, Document 103

    Plaintiffs, via CourtListener · October 31, 2026

    The plaintiffs told the court the ads remained online into October 31. That is their account, not a finding.

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638/gov.uscourts.nysd.674638.103.0.pdf

  4. Source 4

    Docket, Common Cause v. Department of Homeland Security

    CourtListener · October 20, 2026

    The docket page opened here runs through mid-October and sets a November 4 hearing. The October 30 order was opened as the document itself.

    https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74934579/common-cause-v-department-of-homeland-security/