Overview

• Multiple Department of Education employees report their out-of-office emails were changed without consent to statements blaming Senate Democrats for the funding lapse.
• The department’s press team auto-reply explicitly blamed Democratic senators for blocking a clean continuing resolution and stated staff were in furlough status.
• A Department of Education spokesperson defended the language to NBC News, saying the messages simply reflect that Senate Democrats are refusing to vote for a clean CR.
• Reporting attributes the partisan language to templates shared by the White House budget office, as several federal websites also displayed banners faulting Democrats or the “radical left.”
• Public Citizen filed multiple Hatch Act complaints and Rep. Robert Garcia called for an investigation by the acting special counsel as the shutdown continues.