Trump administration uses taxpayer dollars to blame Democrats for government shutdown

The Trump administration is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown in internal federal agency communications as well as public agency websites, in what experts say could be a violation of federal ethics laws.

A bright red banner and pop-up message first appeared Tuesday on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website. It was updated early Wednesday morning and warns: "The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need."

Wednesday morning, a banner added to the top of Department of Justice websites reads "Democrats have shut down the government" with a link to its shutdown plans.

Staffers at multiple agencies and Cabinet departments received emails on Tuesday from the White House Office of Management and Budget. Many shared screenshots of those emails with NPR, or confirmed the text of the message they received. The messages said any lapse in government funding would be "forced by Congressional Democrats."

"President Trump opposes a government shutdown, and strongly supports the enactment of H.R. 5371, which is a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November 21, and already passed the U.S. House of Representatives," the message says. "Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands. If Congressional Democrats maintain their current posture and refuse to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded before midnight on September 30, 2025, federal appropriated funding will lapse."

The message continues: "The agency has contingency plans in place for executing an orderly shutdown of activities that would be affected by any lapse in appropriations forced by Congressional Democrats."

Similar messages were received by staff at the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, Labor, State, Treasury, Justice, Agriculture and Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, the General Services Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Personnel Management and the National Labor Relations Board, according to screenshots shared with NPR.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress but need Democratic support in the Senate to approve any government funding deal.

A statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs also used sharply partisan language, saying "radical liberals in Congress" would be to blame for services not being available during a shutdown, such as career counseling activities and the closure of regional benefits offices.

"Radical liberals in Congress are trying to shut down the government to achieve their crazy fantasy of open borders, 'transgender' for everybody and men competing in women's sports," VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement sent to the media. "If they succeed, they will stop critical Veterans care and assistance programs."

Health care for veterans will not be affected and the VA's contingency plan notes that about 97% of its employees will not be furloughed.

Alarm bells for ethics experts

The inclusion of overtly political messages in federal agency communications raised immediate alarm bells for some federal workers and ethics experts. They said it could violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits civil servants in the executive branch from engaging in most political activity inside federal buildings or while on duty.

"This correspondence from Federal Government Officials could be considered a violation of the Hatch Act," Michael Fallings, a partner at Tully Rinckey, an employment law firm, said in a statement. "The Hatch Act prohibits engaging in political activity while in an official capacity, including communication that contains advocacy in opposition to a political party. Here, while the reference to Democrats alone likely does not constitute a violation, the explicit blaming of the Democratic Party for the shutdown and 'reference to radical left' may constitute a violation."

"The code of ethics requires that federal employees serve the American public impartially, without regard to their political views. This message may not technically violate the Hatch Act — since it does not advocate for particular candidates or weigh in on elections, but it certainly violates the spirit of that law," said Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal nonprofit ethics watchdog group.

"A shutdown will cause stress for the public regardless of political affiliation. Agency leadership's job in this moment is to provide nonpartisan service to their constituents, not politicize the situation and blame political enemies," Sherman said.

"We just all accept that the Hatch Act is null and void," one federal worker, who requested anonymity because they fear retaliation from the Trump administration for speaking out, told NPR. "Nothing matters."

Sent at the behest of the White House

The highly partisan language from the Trump administration differs from that used by other administrations during previous shutdowns.

Ahead of a government shutdown that lasted more than two weeks in 2013, then-President Barack Obama penned a letter to federal employees that thanked them for their service and chided a Congress that "has failed to meet its responsibility" to approve a spending plan, without mentioning Republicans.

"This shutdown was completely preventable," he wrote. "It should not have happened. And the House of Representatives can end it as soon as it follows the Senate's lead, and funds your work in the United States Government without trying to attach highly controversial and partisan measures in the process."

"This type of email informing us of a potential shutdown is not new, but the tone and blaming one political party is definitely unusual," said an Office of Personnel Management staffer who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

Tuesday's messages were sent by agency leadership, but in several cases made clear that they were sent at the behest of the White House.

"The Office of Management and Budget has requested that we send the attached message to you regarding a potential lapse in funding," the email to NLRB staff read. The National Labor Relations Board declined to comment.

"This message was issued under the guidance of the Office of Management and Budget and in alignment with their protocols," an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement to NPR.

"The reality is that the Trump Administration wants to keep the government open so HHS, including the CDC, can fully safeguard the public's health and well-being. By contrast, Congressional Democrats are threatening a shutdown that would impact care to millions of Americans. We will refer you to OMB for additional comment," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said in a statement.

The Office of Management and Budget didn't respond to a request for comment.

The message to Labor Department employees was unsigned by leadership and was sent from a generic department email address that doesn't accept replies, said one department employee who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

At the Social Security Administration, the email came from Commissioner Frank Bisignano, according to a staffer who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

"It basically read like a campaign email," the staffer said.

The Departments of Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture and Treasury, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Social Security Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management did not respond to requests for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

Federal employees are on edge amid this week's funding negotiation, as the White House has threatened to fire some federal workers during a shutdown rather than temporarily furloughing workers as is usually done.

NPR's Quil Lawrence and Tamara Keith contributed reporting.

Have information you want to share about the shutdown or other restructuring changes across the federal government? Reach out to the authors on Signal. Shannon Bond is at shannonbond.01, Jenna McLaughlin is at JennaMcLaughlin.54, and Stephen Fowler is at stphnfwlr.25.
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