Department of Education staff who are out of the office due to the federal shutdown weren't merely told to make their "out-of-office" auto-reply attack Democrats for the shutdown. Now it appears some staff had the message automatically imposed on them. "This is illegal," one legal analyst explained.
On Wednesday, it was reported that federal employees were told to use an auto-responder for their email for anyone attempting to contact them. Some say the proposed language violates the Hatch Act, and the group Public Citizen filed a complaint in court over the language used on the Housing and Urban Development website.
Federal employees are prohibited from using their office to affect or influence an election.
At the Department of Education, however, the auto-responder was forced on staff.
Independent reporter Marisa Kabas, who writes "The Handbasket" newsletter, said on Bluesky, "Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats."
Lawyer and analyst Max Kennerly explained, "This is illegal, plain and simple, with penalties including removal from federal service, debarment from federal employment for five years, and a fine of $1000. 5 U.S.C. § 7326. A country which valued the rule of law would enforce its laws."
House Oversight Committee ranking member, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), agreed, telling NBC News that the Trump administration is in “blatant violation of the law” for “misuse of taxpayer dollars for political purposes."
“I write regarding the Trump Administration’s apparent violations of the Hatch Act, and illegal use of government resources to promote a false, partisan Republican political agenda,” Garcia wrote in a letter to the Office of the Special Counsel, MSNBC.com reported.
Garcia noted that many agencies were told to use the auto-responder with the overtly political messaging. Thus far, only the Department of Education is known to have reportedly forced it on the employees.