A federal workers union is suing the Trump administration for inserting language into Department of Education employees' out-of-office email messages blaming Democrats for the government shutdown.
"Forcing civil servants to speak on behalf of the political leadership's partisan agenda is a blatant violation of federal employees' First Amendment rights," said the complaint, which was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees in federal district court in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
The lawsuit is the first to challenge the administration's unusual use of partisan messaging in government communications during the shutdown, which legal experts told NPR may violate federal ethics laws.
The White House began pointing the finger at Democrats as the government shut down on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to fund operations. Messages posted on agency websites and in emails to federal workers across multiple Cabinet departments blamed congressional Democrats and, in some cases, the "Radical Left" for the shutdown and its impacts. (Republicans control both chambers of Congress but need Democratic support in the Senate to approve any government funding deal.)
Many Department of Education employees who were furloughed due to the shutdown were surprised to see the following message inserted into their out-of-office replies: "Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations, I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume."
Multiple employees told NPR that although the message was written in the first person and sent from their email, they did not write it and were not told it would replace whatever out-of-office message they had originally set up.
The language also differed from the model language the department had provided to staffers as they prepared for the shutdown, according to the lawsuit. Some staffers who tried to change their out-of-office messages to remove the partisan language found they were changed back, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit argues the messages violate the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from compelling speech. It names the Department of Education and Secretary Linda McMahon as defendants.
"Without giving notice to their employees, let alone obtaining their consent, the Department of Education has replaced employees' out-of-office email messages with partisan language that blames 'Democrat Senators' for the shutdown," the complaint said. "Employees are now forced to involuntarily parrot the Trump Administration's talking points with emails sent out in their names."
In response to NPR's request for comment on the lawsuit, the Education Department press team replied with the same automated out-of-office message. In a statement to NBC News on Thursday, before the lawsuit was filed, Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications, said: "The email reminds those who reach out to Department of Education employees that we cannot respond because Senate Democrats are refusing to vote for a clean CR and fund the government. Where's the lie?"
Government ethics experts have said that the inclusion of overtly political messages in federal agency communications could violate the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by civil servants in the executive branch.
"The Hatch Act prohibits engaging in political activity while in an official capacity, including communication that contains advocacy in opposition to a political party," Michael Fallings, a partner at Tully Rinckey, an employment law firm, said in a statement. "Here, while the reference to Democrats alone likely does not constitute a violation, the explicit blaming of the Democratic Party for the shutdown and 'reference to radical left' may constitute a violation."
On Thursday, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency which enforces the Hatch Act, to investigate the Trump administration's use of agency websites and official government emails "to promote a false, partisan Republican political agenda." (The Office of Special Counsel is being led by an acting director since President Trump fired its Senate-confirmed leader before the end of his term. The agency is closed during the shutdown, according to its website.)
More than two dozen current and former federal workers contacted NPR in recent days to express concern about the politicized language they are seeing from agencies and officials.
"As a professional civil servant and human being I find the rhetoric shocking, offensive, and jarring," said one federal worker who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration for speaking publicly.
Six people shared screenshots of a weekly newsletter the Department of Veterans Affairs sends to "Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors." Titled "How the government shutdown impacts VA," the Oct. 1 newsletter said: "President Trump opposes a lapse in appropriations, and on September 19, the House of Representatives passed, with the Trump Administration's support, a clean continuing resolution to fund the government through November 21. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands." It went on to list VA services that would be affected.
"I think the politicization of a VA newsletter which is intended only to let us know of our benefits should also be reported on," a veteran who received the newsletter and requested anonymity because they fear reprisal from the government told NPR.
"The message was 100% factual, and even mainstream media outlets and reporters say the same thing," VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement in response to NPR's questions about the newsletter and the concerns veterans expressed about politicization.
NPR's Cory Turner contributed reporting.
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