Cynthia Lummis
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Wyoming
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Cynthia Lummis defends the ads as patriotic messaging, compares them with earlier presidents' public-information campaigns and objects to Hassan's resolution against federal payment.
“Presidents of both parties have used public service announcements to speak directly to the American people for decades.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Senate debate over federal funding for Trump television adsPrinted pages S5134 and S5150-S5151; Schumer remarks and Hassan-Lummis exchange over S. Res. 921
The Congressional Record contains Schumer's criticism and the full exchange in which Hassan seeks unanimous consent and Lummis objects.
Why we used this label
The conduct under scrutiny is federal funding for Trump-promoting ads. Lummis supplies a substantive justification and blocks the effort to reject public payment.