Messages from the official accounts of Furloughed staff changed to point to the Senate Democrats’ fingers on Wednesday.
What’s going forward for the second day’s closing council leaders?
Zach Schermele of USA Today will be at Capitol Hill on the second day of government shutdown as federal layoffs begin soon.
WASHINGTON – On the first day of government shutdowns, the official US Department of Education email accounts began sending out-of-office messages to Democrats due to the funding crisis.
“Thank you for contacting me,” one message said. “On September 19, 2025, the House passed a clean, continuing resolution, HR 5371. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking the passage of HR 5371 in the Senate.
Automatic response is the latest example of the Trump administration to use official government levers in a new and controversial way that pressures Democrats to end the closure. Other federal agencies have created equally partisan messages from typically non-political civil servants amid legislative conflicts over disagreements related to healthcare reductions.
Two Furloughed employees told USA Today they were deeply annoyed by seeing messages sent through their email accounts. They felt it was likely to violate the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from certain political activities.
The agency’s public relations officers were also full and we were unable to contact them for comment.
Shelia Smith, the union president representing workers in the education sector, said the email had spurred widespread deterioration among her members. They have already experienced “professional whiplash,” she said.
She herself has been taking paid administrative leave since March, but emails outside Smith’s office have also been changed. Her departure from work “has nothing to do with Senate Democrats,” she said.
“It has something to do with the fact that this administration put me on paid administrative leave and implemented illegal expansions,” she said.
The education sector has already spent months involving months from deep cuts in the Trump administration. The agency cut staff in half earlier this year through layoffs, acquisitions, retirements and other departures. The lawsuit continued to be fired, which allowed the Supreme Court to remain primarily there while discussing their legality.
The education department employed around 2,117 employees this week after Congressional lawmakers failed to reach the deal on Sept. 30 to maintain federal lighting. According to the agency’s emergency response plan, around 330 staff members were scheduled to remain in the closure.
Political messages about the closure were also produced by other federal agencies. The Housing and Urban Development Agency website now states, “Extremists left in Congress will shut down the government. HUD will use the resources available to help Americans in need.”
“I heard all the cry and the protests and people say this is propaganda and that it’s a violation of the Hatch Act,” Housing Secretary Scott Turner said.
Contributed by Zack Anderson, USA Today
Zachary Schermele is a council reporter for USA Today. You can contact him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @Zachschermele and follow Bluesky at @Zachschermele.bsky.social.
