The government does not get to decide who attends an official public event based on whether you praise or mock the people in power. Amanda McGonigle runs a satirical Instagram account that pokes fun at Vice President Vance. She registered for an official, taxpayer-funded work visit in Bangor, Maine, waited in line for about half an hour, and then armed Secret Service agents and other officials pulled her out and told her, "it's a private event and we know where you stand."
It was not a private event. It was government business paid for by the public, and the reason given was her point of view. The ACLU, which is now suing, points to a second event she registered for and was quietly kept out of while other people were let in. That is viewpoint discrimination, and mocking an elected official is exactly the kind of speech the First Amendment was written to protect.
When federal agents use their authority to bar critics from public events while waving supporters through, they turn official functions into loyalty rallies and teach everyone else to keep their opinions quiet. I am asking you to open oversight of the Secret Service and the Executive Office of the President over these exclusions, and to require clear, viewpoint-neutral rules for who may attend official government events, so access never depends on whether you flatter the official on stage.
