The Housing and Urban Development Department’s website currently displays a red banner that says “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government,” while some furloughed Education Department employees report that their out-of-office messages have been modified to blame Senate Democrats for voting against a GOP measure to continue government funding.
And there have been multiple media reports about federal employees across agencies receiving emails emphasizing that President Donald Trump is not responsible for the shutdown.
Democratic lawmakers and good government groups have argued that these communications violate the Hatch Act, a law that restricts the political activities of civil servants. While legal experts that Government Executive spoke to were divided on that assertion, they did contend that these messages nonetheless represent ethical issues for agencies that are supposed to operate without regard to politics.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Thursday requested that the Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act, launch an investigation into these messages.
“We believe that violations of the Hatch Act fit a pattern of abuse and politicization of executive branch agencies, which we will investigate fully,” Garcia wrote. “Violations of the law must be held accountable.”
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