A federal labor union has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that it violated workers’ First Amendment rights by sending out a mass email blaming congressional Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
According to National Public Radio, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of federal workers by the American Federation of Government Employees. It names the U.S. Department of Education, as well as multiple members of the Trump administration, as defendants.
“Forcing civil servants to speak on behalf of the political leadership’s partisan agenda is a blatant violation of federal employees’ First Amendment rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Attorneys say that the Trump administration violated federal workers’ First Amendment rights by compelling political speech.
“Without giving notice to their employees, let alone obtaining their consent, the Department of Education has replaced employees’ out-of-office email messages with partisan language that blames ‘Democrat Senators’ for the shutdown,” the lawsuit alleges. “Employees are now forced to involuntarily parrot the Trump Administration’s talking points with emails sent out in their names.”
The plaintiffs are being represented by attorneys from Democracy Forward.
“The Trump-Vance administration is losing the blame game for the shutdown, so they’re using every tactic to try to fool the American people, including taking advantage of furloughed civil servants,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said.
“Posting messages without consent to broadcast messages on behalf of a partisan agenda is a blatant violation of First Amendment rights,” Perryman added. “Even for an administration that has repeatedly demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the Constitution and rule of law, this is beyond outrageous. The court must act immediately to stop this flagrant unlawfulness.”
National Public Radio notes that, over the course of the past several weeks, increasing numbers of federal employees have reported a surge in politically-charged messages.
“As a professional civil servant and human being, I find the rhetoric shocking, offensive, and jarring,” one federal worker told NPR.
Another six people shared screenshots of weekly newsletters issued by the Department Veterans Affairs, with one issuing reading, “President Trump opposes a lapse in appropriations, and on September 19, the House of Representatives passed, with the Trump Administration’s support, a clean continuing resolution to fund the government through November 21. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands.”
“I think the politicization of a VA newsletter which is intended only to let us know of our benefits should also be reported on,” one veteran told NPR.
In response to concerns about the use of political rhetoric in official publications, the Trump administration provided a typically opaque and unmeaningful statement.
“The message was 100% factual, and even mainstream media outlets and reporters say the same thing,” VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said.
Sources
Federal workers sue Education Department over partisan shutdown emails
Union sues Education Department over manipulation of workers’ email messages
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