Several federal agencies used politically loaded language on Tuesday to address the pending government shutdown.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development blamed the “Radical Left.” Veterans Affairs faulted “Radical liberals.” The Environmental Protection Agency singled out “Congressional Democrats” to blame for Congress’s inability to come to an agreement on how to fund the government. And the Small Business Administration referenced a “Democrat-imposed” shutdown in an email to reporters.
The partisan attacks are familiar coming from President Trump. But federal agencies have typically stayed out of the fray when it comes to political disagreements.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Max Stier, chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that promotes an effective federal work force. Mr. Stier said the language violates the use of public resources.
On HUD’s website, the message appeared twice on Tuesday, first as a pop-up and then on a red background: “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people,” the statement said. A spokesman for Veterans Affairs issued a similar statement in response to a request for work force data.
“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,” Peter Kasperowicz, the agency’s spokesman, said. “If they succeed, they will stop critical veterans care and assistance programs.”
Kevin L. Owen, a lawyer with Gilbert Employment Law, said both statements appeared to violate the Hatch Act, a longstanding law devised to ensure that the federal work force operates free of political influence or coercion.
But a housing department official said that the message was deliberately worded to avoid violating the law. The official asserted that “radical left” is an ideology, not a politician or political party. But Mr. Owen saw the term as coded language for a political party. The housing department official described the agency’s thinking on condition of anonymity because the official was not allowed to speak about it publicly.
The Environmental Protection Agency pinned the blame specifically on congressional Democrats and raised the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
“Congressional Democrats are not only unwilling to vote for a clean funding bill, but their goal is to inflict as much pain on the American people as possible,” Brigit Hirsch, the agency’s press secretary, wrote in an email. “Americans made their voices heard last November; Democrats must respect the will of the people.”
Some agencies, including the Social Security Administration, Health and Human Services and the Interior Department, sent internal messages to employees on Tuesday about the expected shutdown, blaming Democrats for blocking a funding proposal.
On Monday, the housing secretary, Scott Turner, posted a similar comment on social media: “This isn’t a negotiation, it’s a shakedown. It is shameful that far-left Democrats are holding our government hostage for their $1.5 Trillion spending splurge.”
Lawmakers in Congress are at an impasse over the Democrats’ $1 trillion request to reverse cuts to Medicaid and health care funding.
Ashaki Robinson, president of the local American Federation of Government Employees union representing HUD workers, called the comments “more illegal actions by the feckless leadership” of the Trump administration.
“Federal employees should not have to sit by and watch these blatant violations of the laws of the land,” Ms. Robinson said. “Employees are furious, and so is the union.”
Enforcement of the Hatch Act has been inconsistent, and the administration reinterpreted some of the language earlier this year so that government employees can wear campaign paraphernalia while working.
Elena Shao, Maxine Joselow, Tara Siegel Bernard, Nicholas Nehamas and Jonathan Ellis contributed reporting.
Eileen Sullivan is a Times reporter covering the changes to the federal work force under the Trump administration.
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