The U.S. federal government ceased operations at midnight on Wednesday, stopping various services after Congress failed to reach consensus on a funding bill. The Trump administration swiftly accused Democrats of causing the shutdown, even posting allegations on an official government site, which could potentially breach legal regulations.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) introduced a partisan pop-up notice on its homepage, echoed by a prominent red banner. “The Radical Left plans to shut down the government and impose severe hardship on the American populace unless they secure their $1.5 trillion wishlist of demands,” the notification stated. “The Trump administration aims to keep the government functioning for the American people.”
Once the shutdown commenced, the HUD pop-up and banner were modified to convey, “The Radical Left in Congress has shut down the government. HUD will utilize available resources to assist Americans in need.”
NPR has reported that employees at various government agencies received emails from the White House Office of Management and Budget attributing blame to Congressional Democrats.
President Donald Trump frequently assigns blame to Democrats for challenges, yet publicizing such views on an official government platform sparks concerns. The HUD pop-up could potentially infringe the Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from participating in partisan political activities. (The President and Vice President are not subject to this restriction.)
The nonprofit advocacy organization Public Citizen has lodged a Hatch Act complaint against HUD secretary Scott Turner regarding the pop-up. “This is such an evident breach of the Hatch Act that it raises the question: ‘How on Earth does HUD believe they can evade accountability for this?'” stated Craig Holman, a government ethics specialist with Public Citizen.
Holman indicated that the “blatant crassness” of the pop-up message might still compel the ethics offices to respond. “The public notices it. The world recognizes it. And it is distinctly partisan and political,” Holman remarked. “To ignore what everyone else observes might be too embarrassing.”
The government shutdown emerged due to Congress’ inability to pass a funding bill. Republicans supported a short-term funding measure to maintain government operations until Nov. 21, but Democrats opposed it unless it incorporated prolonged federal healthcare subsidies and reversed Medicaid reductions. Democrats introduced a separate bill with these amendments to ensure healthcare affordability, funding the government through October. Republicans declined to back it, resulting in a stalemate.
On Tuesday, Trump mentioned that if a government shutdown occurred, his administration would implement changes “detrimental to [Democrats] and irreversible,” such as laying off Democrats and eliminating programs they advocate. Trump holds the record for the longest U.S. government shutdown, with a 35-day interruption during his first term in 2018.