A Massachusetts resident who runs high-profile, cat-themed social media pages that lampoon Vice President JD Vance has filed a federal lawsuit in Maine alleging she was unlawfully prevented from attending a vice-presidential appearance.
The plaintiff, Amanda McGonigle, operates the CatsOnACouch Instagram account, which has drawn more than 1.9 million followers. According to her complaint, she created the CatsOnACouch accounts on Instagram and Facebook beginning in 2024 after comments Vance made in 2021 about "childless cat ladies" went viral. The accounts blend political commentary, images of cats and mockery of Vance, her attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union say.
McGonigle says she registered properly to attend an event in Bangor in May where Vance was scheduled to speak about his role leading the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. While waiting in line at the gathering, she alleges, officials singled her out. The suit states that the officials who excluded her included armed U.S. Secret Service agents and that she was told she was being kept out because "we know where you stand."
The complaint argues the exclusion was motivated by McGonigle's online criticism of Vance and amounts to retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. Her lawyers are asking a federal judge to bar the Secret Service from preventing her from attending future events involving the vice president.
The lawsuit challenges the justification offered at the time for her removal. Officials, according to the filing, described the gathering as private. McGonigle's legal team counters that the event was an official government function organized by the Executive Office of the President, part of the White House, and that it relied at least in part on taxpayer funding.
The ACLU's representation includes public comment that both defends the content of McGonigle's accounts and characterizes the alleged exclusion as a constitutional affront. ACLU attorney Laura Moraff said, "Ms. McGonigle's satirical social media content is purr-tected speech. Punishing her for her catty commentary is a cat-aclysmic blow to the First Amendment."
The Secret Service declined to comment on the lawsuit. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the filing notice.
Background and procedural posture
The complaint was filed in federal court in Maine and recounts the interaction at the May 14 event tied to Vance's leadership of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. It seeks injunctive relief to prevent similar exclusions at future vice-presidential events.
What the suit alleges
- McGonigle followed registration procedures to attend the May event in Bangor.
- While in line she was identified by officials, including armed Secret Service agents, and told she would be excluded because of her political stance.
- Her exclusion flowed from her CatsOnACouch accounts, which she launched beginning in 2024 after Vance's 2021 comments became widely circulated.
- The government was alleged to have characterized the gathering as private, while the complaint says it was an official White House event using at least some taxpayer funding.
The lawsuit frames the exclusion as compelled by viewpoint discrimination and seeks a judicial ruling to protect McGonigle's attendance rights at future vice-presidential events.