Shortly before the latest government shutdown began, the abuses were common. Federal agencies’ websites started pushing partisan political messages, blaming Democrats for the looming breakdown, and federal workers in multiple departments started receiving related political emails from their superiors.
After the deadline came and went, more federal agencies followed suit, pushing partisan propaganda intended to advance the White House’s political messaging. Soon, out-of-office emails became political instruments, too. NBC News reported:
A number of federal agencies are putting out messages blaming Democratic senators for the current government shutdown, in a sharp break from how departments have handled shutdowns in the past. Traditionally, agencies provide information on the status of the funding lapse and what services won’t be available, but stay away from partisan talking points. Some civil servants, who are supposed to be nonpartisan, are being encouraged to push out the messages as well.
The Department of Labor, for example, sent a message to its employees, suggesting out-of-office notifications that reflected “template language” provided by the Trump White House. Furloughed federal employees at other agencies were also directed to blame Democrats, whether or not they believed that message.
The Department of Veterans Affairs included partisan messaging in a newsletter message sent to veterans.
This is a departure from how federal offices worked during previous shutdowns and is not simply a reflection of Donald Trump’s radicalism or the toxicity of contemporary politics. Rather, there are laws in place that other administrations used to follow, which the Republican White House is now choosing to ignore.
It’s precisely why the issue is apparently headed to court. NBC News also reported:
A nonprofit consumer advocacy group filed a Hatch Act complaint against Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, for a message on the SBA’s homepage that accuses Senate Democrats of causing the government shutdown. Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, wrote in the complaint that the agency’s homepage featured ‘a highly partisan post targeting both employees and the public asserting that congressional Democrats are solely responsible for the shutdown and causing financial harm to small businesses and the American public.’ The agency’s homepage message currently tells the public that Senate Democrats are responsible for a government shutdown “that is preventing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from serving America’s 36 million small businesses.” A federal ethics law called the Hatch Act is intended to limit the political activities of federal workers. The reasoning behind the law is obvious: Public resources should not be used to advance partisan goals. Indeed, the very idea of taxpayer-funded political operations is at odds with the basic principles of good government. It’s why walls are supposed to exist between official and political duties — walls that have existed for decades to prevent abuses in administrations of both parties. In Trump’s first term, the president and his team expressed indifference toward the Hatch Act and treated the ethics law as the punchline to a joke, but not during his government shutdowns. During Trump’s second term, the president and his team appear even more eager to act like they’re above the law, and rules and limits just don’t apply to them.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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