By Ronald Miller, J.D.

Nonpartisanship is the bedrock of the federal civil service; it ensures that career government employees serve the public, not the politicians.

The Department of Education violated the First Amendment rights of its employees who have been furloughed or placed on administrative leave, by changing their generic automated out-of-office email messages to a partisan message that blamed Democrats for the government shutdown, ruled a federal district court in the District of Columbia. AFGE contended that by commandeering its employees’ e-mails in this manner, the department compelling their speech in violation of the First Amendment. The court first concluded that under the unusual circumstances of this case, it had jurisdiction over AFGE’s claim. Further, applying the traditional Pickering framework, the court concluded that the department did not have a “legitimate need” to insert partisan speech in its employees’ out-of-office messages. Because AFGE prevailed on the merits, it was entitled to summary judgment, including a permanent injunction (American Federation of Government Employees v. U.S. Department of Education, No. 25-cv-3553 (CRC) (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025)).

Out-of-office e-mail. In March 2025, some Department of Education employees were placed on administrative leave due to large-scale reductions in force. Before going on administrative leave—and losing access to their government e-mail accounts—many of these employees set an out-of-office e-mail...

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