Overview
- U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the department violated employees’ First Amendment rights by inserting a line blaming “Democrat Senators” into furlough out-of-office messages.
- The court permanently prohibited adding partisan language to away messages for members of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 2,000 Education Department workers.
- Cooper ordered the immediate removal of the partisan line from AFGE members’ accounts and said he will require removal from all accounts if the agency cannot technically isolate union users.
- The opinion said commandeering civil servants’ email accounts for political messaging erodes the nonpartisan foundation of the federal workforce.
- During the record-length shutdown, the judge directed the department to certify compliance within two business days, as the ruling joins wider legal challenges to shutdown-related actions.