Retired federal land managers say that partisan shutdown language is chilling

There are brewing legal fights against the Trump administration for language posted on federal websites and in government emails blaming Democrats for the government shutdown.

The controversy centers on language posted at the top of federal agency websites and in some automated email responses. They warn the public responses could be slow due to "the Radical Left Democrat Shutdown." Democrats and a union representing federal workers argue the language violates the 1939 Hatch Act, which bars employees of the executive branch from doing anything partisan while at work.

In a complaint filed with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, former Idaho Democratic state legislator Todd Achilles argues the language is a prohibited political message on public infrastructure.

"I filed the complaint because we don't play politics with public lands," Achilles told NPR. "The Forest Service exists to serve all Americans regardless of political affiliation."

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It's not clear how quickly Achilles' complaint will get addressed, though. An automatic reply email from the Special Counsel on Tuesday said the Hatch Act Unit is out of office due to a lapse in appropriations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. But since the government shutdown last week, the agency also has had automated email responses with similar language. The agency's out-of-office emails and the website banners also read: President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel and clothe the American people.

On Friday, the American Federation of Government Employees, a federal workers union, sued the U.S. Department of Education against similar automated emails from that agency and sent a cease-and-desist letter.

Retired federal land managers say the language casts a chill over the work of civil servants, many of whom already have been targeted for layoffs or early retirement as part of the Trump administration's attempts to radically downsize the federal bureaucracy.

Steve Ellis, a former deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management under the Obama administration, said blatantly partisan political messages have no place on agency websites.

"In our careers, we have never seen anything like it," Ellis said in an email.

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