Senate Democrats are calling for an investigation because federal agencies are blaming them for the Schumer Shutdown on their websites and emails.
Democrats have been complaining about this ever since they started the shutdown, which appears to be ending soon, as enough Democratic lawmakers have signaled they are willing to make a deal with Senate Republicans.
The lawmakers contend that the Trump administration is violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal workers from using government resources to push a political agenda.
From NBC News:
In a letter obtained by NBC News, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and other Democrats ask the Government Accountability Office to open a probe into whether the political messages violated federal appropriations laws.
The lawmakers point specifically to a rule that prohibits the executive branch from using funds for “purely partisan” purposes. They are asking for more information from the GAO to see if several agencies violated laws that pertain to ethics and partisan political activity.
As NBC News previously reported, multiple agencies have posted messages on their official federal websites blaming Democrats and the “radical left” for the shutdown. Some also encouraged employees to post similar messages in their out-of-office replies. And five employees of the Education Department told NBC News that their automatic email replies were changed to partisan messages without their consent.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued a ruling on November 7, 2025, that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment rights of Education Department employees by taking over their work email accounts to push partisan messaging about the government shutdown, according to Politico.
At first, the Education Department instructed its employees to set out-of-office messages with a neutral and factual template. However, the agency’s deputy chief of staff replaced their messages with ones that pointed the finger at Democrats.
The messages read, "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.”
🚨 BREAKING: It has just been revealed that left-wing federal bureaucrats are FURIOUS that the Trump administration set up an automated "out of office" message on their personal government emails BLAMING Democrats for the shutdown.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 3, 2025
One of them even tried to change it, but it was… pic.twitter.com/Di2LSP1iIG
The workers stated that they were not aware of their messages being altered.
Judge Cooper issued a permanent injunction instructing the administration to remove all partisan language for employees’ out-of-office messages and criticized the White House for “commandeering its employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages.”
The judge further argued that “nonpartisanship is the bedrock of the federal civil service; it ensures that career government employees serve the public, not the politicians” and that the White House “cannot use rank-and-file civil servants as their unwilling spokespeople.”
Even though the White House changed the messages after the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed the lawsuit, the judge still disagreed. The new messages simply said, “The Department employee you have contacted is currently in furlough status.”
Cooper argued that this still constituted partisan messaging in violation of the workers’ rights.
