The Department of Housing and Urban Development plastered its website with a message about the “Radical Left” on Tuesday, raising questions about a potential Hatch Act violation as the White House squares off with congressional Democrats over a government funding deadline.
The HUD.gov website featured both a pop up window and a red banner at the top of the main page with the same message on Tuesday morning.
“The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands,” the message reads. “The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”
HUD Secretary Scott Turner posted a similar message about the “radical left” on his official X account Tuesday morning, adding that, “HUD.gov has been updated accordingly.”
Kevin Owen, a partner at Gilbert Employment Law, said the website’s message is “likely to be a Hatch Act violation.”
“The fact that it has been posted on an agency website on behalf of an agency does not make it immune from Hatch Act prosecution,” Owen said. “In fact, it makes it more likely that the individuals who have posted this were acting in their official capacity and not in their personal political speech, which is going to make it more likely to be a Hatch Act violation.”
The Hatch Act is an 86-year-old law that limits political activity by federal employees.
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