Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed led 23 Senate colleagues Monday in demanding the Trump administration remove partisan political messages from federal agency websites and employee email accounts.
Reed and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon sent the letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought claiming the messages violate federal law prohibiting the use of government funds for propaganda purposes. Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse also signed the letter.
The letter cites examples including a red banner on the Department of Housing and Urban Development website stating “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government.”
The senators also said furloughed employees at multiple agencies, including the departments of Education and Veterans Affairs, reported their automatic out-of-office email messages were modified without consent to blame Senate Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
“Spirited public debate has its place, but agency resources, including websites or emails, should not be used to send overtly political, and in this case, misleading messages, to the American people,” the senators wrote.
The letter claims the messages violate Section 715 of a 2024 appropriations law, which prohibits federal funds from being used for propaganda “designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress.” The senators also allege violations of the Anti-Lobbying Act and the Hatch Act.
Federal agencies began posting the partisan messages as early as Sept. 30, according to the letter. In addition to HUD, the senators cited similar messages on websites for the Small Business Administration, Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture.
The senators noted that Democrats have voted four times in the past week to fund the government.
Violating the Hatch Act can result in removal from federal service and civil penalties up to $1,000. Anti-Lobbying Act violations carry civil penalties of $10,000 to $100,000 per occurrence.
The letter was also signed by senators from Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and 15 other states.