Federal Workers Are Being Told to Blame Democrats for the Shutdown

At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, employees were instructed to set an out-of-office message that reads, “The federal government’s spending authority expired at 11:59 on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, therefore, most HUD programs have been temporarily interrupted, and most HUD employees have been told they cannot work…We regret any inconvenience the government lapse of appropriations may cause.”

On the agency’s website however, a pop up window announces, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need.” The same language appears on a red banner at the top of the website, as well as in a pop-up with the same banner in the agency’s internal system for employees, hud@work.

“You can’t click anything without these annoying pop ups. Every single click to get to a time card or HRConnect,” says a HUD employee who asked to remain anonymous because they aren’t authorized to speak to the press. “It’s fucking nuts.”

HUD did not respond to a request for comment.

The website for the Department of Justice (DOJ) also includes a banner stating, “Democrats have shut down the government. Department of Justice websites are not currently regularly updated.”

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

In the lead up to the shutdown, employees across government received emails from agency leaders containing similar sentiments to those in the SBA email. An email from HUD’s deputy secretary Andrew Hughes on the evening of September 30 included the subject line, “Far Left Gov Shutdown Imminent” and included instructions for HUD employees during the shutdown. An email received by employees at the Department of the Interior (DOI), with a signature from Secretary Doug Burgum, read, “President Trump opposes a government shutdown, and strongly supports the enactment of HR 5371, which is a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November 21, and already passed the US House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the US Senate due to unrelated policy demands.”

A nearly identical email was sent out to employees at the Small Business Administration (SBA) from the email associated with the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO).

“The tone of the language is very antagonistic and partisan in a way we don’t expect from formal messaging from agency leaders,” says Moynihan. “If you had a federal employee who emailed their colleagues blaming president Trump for the shut down, they’d be pursued for a Hatch Act violation and probably fired in the meantime.”

In a memo posted on X that appeared to be sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies, Russell Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), alleged that the government was shutting down due to “insane policy demands” from Democrats.

Leah Feiger contributed reporting.