A simple plan by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to hire Edelman, a private PR firm, is now making headlines.

The agency—which operates within the Department of Health and Human Services—has raised red flags about the amount of taxpayer dollars the government shells out for “PR, advertising and propaganda.” (Yes, that’s how the industry has been defined on Capitol Hill since 1949.) According to a post on FederalNewsRadio.com:

Federal law prohibits the use of appropriated federal funds for publicity or propaganda purposes, but as the Congressional Research Service report finds, no single agency tracks advertising spending for all federal agencies, and few government-wide restrictions exist that define legal advertising from prohibited propaganda.

Pandora’s box