INV-018 · Money & ethics · Hatch Act
Partisan agency posts during the shutdown
Stage 5 of 5: Outcome (Closed by OSC) · Closed, settled, decided · Last development 25 Sep 2026
During the 2025 shutdown, agencies including HUD posted messages blaming the "Radical Left". More than 1,000 Hatch Act complaints followed. The Office of Special Counsel decided almost a year later that no further action was warranted.
- People
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Special Counsel, Department of Education
- Agencies
- HUD, Education Dept, Office of Special Counsel
- Reviewed by
- Office of Special Counsel, House Oversight (minority), Federal court (D.D.C.)
Timeline
OSC replies that further investigation or discipline is unwarranted. [1]
Judge Christopher Cooper rules the Education Department violated employees' First Amendment rights by replacing their out-of-office replies with a message blaming "Democrat Senators" for the shutdown: employees "do not sign up to be a billboard for any given administration's partisan views." He orders the messages restored. [2]
Ranking Member Garcia files a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel. [1]
Who is acting on it
- Complaint Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA): Complaint to the Office of Special Counsel about partisan agency posts (2 Oct 2025, What happened next)
Sources
Cite this case
Public Trust Tracker. "Partisan agency posts during the shutdown" (INV-018). Last updated 25 Sep 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/inv-018-partisan-agency-posts-during-the-shutdown/
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