Federal Workers Union Sues Education Dept. Over Forced Partisan Shutdown Emails
Federal Workers Union Sues Education Dept. Over Forced Partisan Shutdown Emails
A prominent federal workers union has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Department of Education, alleging that federal employees were forced to use partisan out-of-office email messages blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) filed the complaint in federal district court in Washington, D.C., arguing that compelling civil servants to parrot a political agenda violates their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit names the Department of Education and Secretary Linda McMahon as defendants.
The controversy stems from a government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025, after lawmakers failed to agree on funding. Furloughed Department of Education employees discovered their out-of-office replies had been replaced with messages stating, “Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations.” Employees claim they did not write these messages and were unable to alter them.
This is the first lawsuit to challenge the administration’s use of partisan messaging in government communications during the shutdown. Legal experts suggest such actions may also violate federal ethics laws, including the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by civil servants. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has already called for an investigation by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel into the administration’s use of agency platforms for what he termed a “false, partisan Republican political agenda.”
Similar partisan language has reportedly appeared in communications from other federal agencies, including a Department of Veterans Affairs newsletter, which also blamed Democrats for the shutdown. The Education Department’s press team reportedly responded to inquiries about the lawsuit with the same automated out-of-office message, while a previous statement defended the messaging as factual.
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