BURSTHousing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner said he is “not worried at all” that his agency might have violated the Hatch Act by using its website to blame the federal government shutdown on Democrats.
“The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands,” a red banner on HUD’s official website said on Tuesday. “The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”
The red banner was updated on Wednesday to say, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources help Americans in need.”
NewsNation host Chris Cuomo asked Turner Wednesday night about the banner.
“I'm not used to seeing naked political propaganda on a government website,” Cuomo said. “Are you worried about this violating the Hatch Act?”
Turner said HUD is not worried “at all.”
“And this is not about propaganda, Chris, this is just about letting the American people know what's going on. But we really need to be talking about how this government shutdown impacts the American people,” the HUD secretary said while on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”
Turner said he has heard all of the “cries and the outcry” of people saying the banner is “propaganda” and that it violates the Hatch Act, a federal law passed in 1939 that “limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs.”
“To me, the Democrats and the far left are using this as a distraction to really deflect from what's really important here, and that's how it's been irresponsible actions on the Hill and American people are being impacted greatly by this government shutdown,” Turner said Wednesday night. “That's what we really need to be talking about.”
The HUD website's message is just one example of how the Trump administration has used official government sites and accounts to get its message out.
Federal employees at multiple agencies received emails Tuesday blaming congressional Democrats for a potential government shutdown “forced” by the party.
The use of the emails to send the partisan message was unusual use of government communications that typically steer clear of political comments.