Four members of the U.S. Army’s premier musical band got paid to play at an event hosted by MAGA Inc., a leading super PAC that supports President Donald Trump and Republican political candidates, according to the group’s latest campaign finance disclosure with federal regulators.
The participation of members of the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” is notable because military bands generally refrain from playing at partisan political gatherings, including campaign events. Their performances are “limited to patriotic programs as opposed to pure entertainment,” according to federal regulations, which prohibit units from participating when “there is fund-raising of any type connected with the event.”
Active-duty service members, including members of military bands, also face limits on their political participation, in or out of uniform. Prohibited activities include engaging “in partisan political fundraising activities — except as a donor,” according to an Air Force memorandum from 2024 entitled, “Political season DOs and DON’Ts for [Department of Defense] employees.”
A MAGA Inc. spokesperson said in a statement to NOTUS that the “musicians performed on their own time as their own quartet.”
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“The ‘Army Band’ did not play. There were no military members in uniform playing at the event,” said the MAGA Inc. spokesperson, who declined to disclose the date and location of the super PAC event.
It’s unorthodox, however, for members of a military band to be performing at a partisan political committee dinner. None of the four musicians have received money from any political committee during the past 15 years, according to data available on the FEC website. Super PACs rarely disclose paying musicians of any kind or for any reason.
Virginia Burger, a senior defense policy analyst at Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, told NOTUS that the situation was “definitely weird.”
But Eugene Fidell, a senior research scholar at Yale University Law School who specializes in military justice, told NOTUS that as long as the musicians weren’t in uniform or directed to play by the government, they should be able to participate.
MAGA Inc. reported paying $950 each to cellist Hrant Parsamian, violist Julia Clancy and violinists Judith Cho and Allison Smith. The payments occurred on Dec. 10 for “event entertainment: music,” according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The four musicians did not respond to emails, phone calls or text messages. The White House referred questions back to MAGA Inc. The Army acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment but did not reply to a detailed list of questions. The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” did not respond to phone calls requesting comment.
Left unanswered: How did the super PAC come to hire the musicians? Who, if anyone, covered their transportation to and from the super PAC event? Was the Army aware of the musicians’ pro-Trump super PAC gig?
Burger, herself a Marine Corps veteran who specialized in public affairs, told NOTUS she would have a “strong conversation” with a Marine photographer if they were, for example, planning to photograph a super PAC event for money. Such a side gig, Burger said, could potentially violate the Hatch Act, which restricts federal employees’ participation in politics.
“At the end of the day, while you can have secondary employment, your oath of enlistment comes first, like that’s going to always trump whatever else it is you’re doing,” Burger said.
Fidell said that the real issue would arise if the musicians performed in uniform or their participation was arranged through military channels.
“It remains a free country,” Fidell said, adding, “If they want to make a few extra dollars by moonlighting as a practical matter, as long as it’s out of uniform, they can participate, in my opinion.”
The $950 payments per musician are a pittance for MAGA Inc., which reported raising more than $100 million between July 1 and Dec. 22. It spent nearly $3.9 million during the same period.
At the end of that period, MAGA Inc. reported more than $294.4 million in cash on hand, an enormous sum for a super PAC that has primarily supported Trump, who is not eligible to run for president again in 2028.
The super PAC may, however, raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to boost other candidates of its choosing, at any level of government.
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