Democrats take legal aim at ‘the Radical Left’ language during shutdown
There are brewing legal fights against the Trump administration for language it’s posting on federal websites and in government emails blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown.
The controversy centers on language posted at the top of federal agency websites and in some automated email responses. They warn the public that responses could be slow due to “the Radical Left Democrat Shutdown.” Some Democrats and a union representing federal workers argue that the language violates the 1939 Hatch Act, which bars employees of the executive branch from doing anything partisan while at work.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, former Idaho Democratic state legislator Todd Achilles argues that the language is a prohibited political message on public infrastructure.
“I filed the complaint because we don’t play politics with public lands,” Achilles told NPR. “The Forest Service exists to serve all Americans, regardless of political affiliation.”
It’s not clear how quickly Achilles’ complaint will get addressed though. An automatic reply email from the Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday said the Hatch Act Unit is out of office due to a lapse in appropriations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment. But since the government shut down last week, the agency has also had automated email responses with similar language. The agency’s out of office emails and the website banners also read: President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel and clothe the American people.
On Friday, the American Federation of Government Employees, a federal workers union, sued the U.S. Department of Education against similar automated emails from that agency and sent a cease and desist letter.
Retired federal land managers say the language casts a chill over the work of civil servants, many of whom have already been targeted for layoffs or early retirement as part of the Trump administration’s attempts to radically downsize the federal bureaucracy.
Steve Ellis, a former deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management under the Obama administration, said blatantly partisan political messages have no place on agency websites.
“In our careers, we have never seen anything like it,” Ellis said in an email.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he will step down in January
Bongino's tenure was at times tumultuous, including a clash with Justice Department leadership over the Epstein files. But it also involved the arrest of a suspect in the Jan. 6 pipe bomber case.
Federal court says troops can stay in D.C., and hints at prolonged deployment
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled that National Guard troops can remain in the city for now. That decision comes after a different federal appeals court ruled that troops must leave Los Angeles earlier this week.
Jack Smith defends his prosecutions of Trump in closed-door session in Congress
The former Justice Department special counsel told the House Judiciary Committee that his team developed "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump took part in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election.
A Chinese man who filmed secret footage in Xinjiang risks deportation from the U.S.
Guan Heng sailed to the U.S. by boat from the Bahamas after publishing footage he filmed of purported detention camps in China. He has been held in immigration detention since August.
‘Harry Potter’ fans are flying to Broadway to see the original Draco Malfoy
Almost eight years after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened on Broadway, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, is now playing him as an adult onstage.
A photographer discovers miles of dinosaur tracks near Italy’s Winter Olympic venues
A nature photographer stumbled upon thousands of 210-million-year-old dinosaur tracks in Italy's central Alps, near where some Olympic skiing and snowboarding events will be held in February.
