#hatch act

Now on official communications

^ here's what to see if you visit HUD.gov

but before you get that BS, first you have to click Close on this ^ BS popup

also I got this in my email:

this one is arguably more insidious, because it looks friendly and informative but is full of subtle lies:

the tax credit comes from Obama (remember "Obamacare"?), not trump or the republicans, and was a watered-down version that - after a long, bitter fight - got approved by all of Congress well before the covid pandemic

that tax credit won't end unless Republicans get their way in killing this wildly popular and vital program

the only reason I and other self-employed Americans will pay more for health insurance is if the Republicans get their way in taking from the poor and giving to the rich (and if Democrats in Congress fail to fight to keep it for us)

updating one's application now will be meaningless until the current budget fight is resolved

these two agencies aren't the only ones breaking the law - specifically, the bipartisan Hatch Act - to propagandize for the trump regime:

DOJ.gov looks like this ^ now

and if you visit the official government Small Business Administration website, you see this ^ atrocious popup

in a statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz also used sharply partisan language, saying:

"Radical liberals in Congress are trying to shut down the government to achieve their crazy fantasy of open borders, 'transgender' for everybody, and men competing in women's sports. If they succeed, they will stop critical Veterans care and assistance programs."

important note: health care for veterans will not be affected, and the VA's contingency plan points out that 97% of its employees will not be furloughed

again, this political propagandizing is illegal under the Hatch Act of 1939, "An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities"

it's a federal law that prohibits civil-service employees in the executive branch of the federal government (as well as state, D.C., and local government employees who work in or with federally funded programs) from engaging in most forms of political activity

example: when I was employed at the University of Kansas (therefore a state employee), we had extremely strict rules prohibiting any political speech at all that used university or state resources - including our time on the clock. and, of course, websites hosted by or representing the university. that's because parts of the school get federal grants (I didn't), which is enough to kick in this rule

nowadays, they can't even use DEIA-related language (as the current regime considers championing human rights to be "political"), so strict is the interpretation of this law

the Hatch Act's purpose is to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation

in other words, it's supposed to protect against all the crap the trump regime is pulling in its hatred of "DEI" and all things antithetical to billionaire interests (and the whims of Demented Don)

and as for coercion, federal employees are being told by the trump regime's appointees - their bosses - to use the political language shown in these screenshots in their out-of-office messages

thankfully, the people are fighting back, suing over this illegal use of taxpayer money to fund republican propaganda

José Olivares and Lauren Gambino at The Guardian:

A growing number of federal agencies and staff are explicitly blaming Democrats for the current government shutdown. The political messaging by the agencies may be a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. Furloughed federal employees at some agencies have been instructed to set out-of-office messages explaining that they are not working because Democrats caused a shutdown. Government agency websites also have displayed messages informing site visitors the websites are temporarily on hold due to the “Democrat-led” shutdown. Other agency websites have used more combative language. “The radical left has chosen to shut down the United States government in the name of reckless spending and obstructionism,” the treasury department’s website reads. Similarly, the US Department of Agriculture’s website says that their site will not be updated “due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown”.

According to Department of Education (DoE) sources, DoE officials changed the language in employees’ automated out-of-office replies to include rhetoric blaming the shutdown on Democrats.

“This message is uniform and provided to us by the Department. We all enabled the auto-reply before logging off for the shutdown,” a DoE employee said, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation. “However, the Department has gone in without our knowledge or approval and changed the message.” NBC News previously reported on the changes to the DoE employees’ automated email messages. The government shut down on Wednesday at midnight, after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement before the Tuesday night deadline. As the Guardian’s Chris Stein explained, Democrats are demanding a series of concessions related to healthcare, funding for public media and foreign aid. As a result of the shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed and agencies have shut down key functions.

[...] By reviewing agency websites and news reports, the Guardian has tracked a number of federal government agencies promoting language that blames Democrats for the shutdown. They include:

The Department of Justice

The Department of State

The Department of the Treasury

The Department of Agriculture

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud)

The Department of Education

The Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Commerce

The Department of Labor

The Small Business Administration (SBA)

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Some explicit political activity by federal employees is prohibited by the Hatch Act, a 1939 law seeking to prevent political influence on the agencies. The use of government websites and employees’ out-of-office messages to blame Democrats for the shutdown is “extraordinarily irresponsible and inappropriate”, said Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel of the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or Crew.

Federal agencies and staffers pump out blatant Hatch Act violations in emails and websites by putting politically partisan notices falsely blaming the Democrats for the shutdown.

See Also:

The plot was already posted earlier that same day on the White House’s own .gov site.

Seven glossy “articles”, where

deportations = “relief”

drilling = “freedom”

and anyone who doesn’t clap on cue stops being a “Real American.”

I pulled that mess apart.

Our job: Invite disaffected Trump voters to join Team Democracy

October 15, 2025

Robert B. Hubbell

Trump seems intent on reminding us why we desperately need a No Kings Day and a second, peaceful American Revolution to preserve the Constitution and redeem democracy. Multiple news stories reminded us that Trump is attempting to exercise dictatorial powers that far surpass those of the British monarch from whom Americans freed themselves in the original American Revolution.

I take no pleasure in listing Trump’s daily transgressions, and I do so only to urge us on to victory, not to proclaim doom. Most of Trump’s unconstitutional behavior is barely recognized as such by the media. It is important that we not give Trump’s lawlessness a “free pass.” Instead, we must restore the Constitution and the rule of law to their rightful places of primacy in American democracy.

As we review Tuesday’s stories, our reaction shouldn’t be, “That’s outrageous,” but rather, “That’s outrageous and the people must rise up to demand fealty to the Constitution and respect for the law.”

With that prologue, let’s see the many ways that Trump violated the Constitution on Tuesday.

The US military killed six alleged drug smugglers in international waters.

Continuing a string of extrajudicial killings that violate US civil and criminal law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, international laws and treaties, and the law of war, the Trump administration destroyed another boat off the coast of Venezuela. See AP News, US strikes another boat accused of carrying drugs off Venezuela.

Per the AP report, even Republicans in Congress are worried about the legality of the Trump administration’s killing of non-combatants in international waters.

For a deeper dive into the unlawful nature of the killings, see The Hill, (9/06/25) Extra-judicial military killing is not a legitimate answer to drug trafficking.

Per the analysis in The Hill,

Extrajudicial killing is the use of deadly force by agents of a government absent the ordinary processes of criminal law — most basically a trial at which guilt is adjudicated by a fair tribunal. In the U.S., that means a judge and a jury. This an essential element of our constitutional system. The Fifth Amendment directs that “no person shall be deprived of life … without due process of law.” The Constitution contains no exception allowing the president to deprive any person, even an alleged drug smuggler, of his life without due process.

Trump promises $20 billion to Argentina, but only if his political ally wins in the upcoming presidential election

During the federal shutdown, in which hundreds of thousands of federal workers are not being paid, Trump announced that he would give Argentina $20 billion in “aid” that would go to political and social elites in that country. See HuffPo, Elizabeth Warren Will Attempt To Block Trump’s Argentina Bailout.

But it gets worse. Trump backtracked on the promise of the financial bailout, saying that the aid would be granted only if Trump’s preferred candidate wins in the upcoming presidential election in Argentina. See WSJ, Trump Says Argentina Bailout Depends on Milei’s Party Winning Upcoming Elections. (“Trump praised Milei as “MAGA all the way.”)

Trump’s corruption has become so ubiquitous that he no longer tries to hide it. Using US taxpayer dollars to advance the political fortunes of Trump’s personal favorite in the presidential race is corruption—plain and simple, not to mention “fraud, waste, and abuse.” Every member of Congress should be standing on their desks in protest of this grotesque misuse of taxpayer money.

Trump forces the resignation of US Attorney who refused to prosecute attorneys who investigated Russia’s interference in 2016 election

Trump has ordered the DOJ to prosecute attorneys and agents of the DOJ and FBI who helped to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. To the surprise of no one, the US Attorney tasked with initiating that prosecution found that there was no basis to prosecute the DOJ attorneys and FBI agents who investigated Russia’s 2016 interference.

So, as Trump has done on numerous occasions previously, he ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to fire the US Attorney (Todd Gilbert) who refused to file a corrupt indictment against Trump’s political enemies. See NYTimes, U.S. Attorney Was Forced Out After Clashes Over How to Handle Russia Inquiry. (Accessible to all.)

Per the NYTimes,

After reviewing the evidence, Mr. Gilbert told his superiors that he did not believe there was sufficient evidence to justify a grand jury investigation, these people said. Frustrated by that answer, aides to Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, blamed a senior career attorney in the office who they believed had swayed Mr. Gilbert: Zachary Lee, a veteran prosecutor with more than two decades of experience involving public corruption and narcotics, among other issues. [¶]

Pressed to further sideline or remove Mr. Lee, Mr. Gilbert refused, these people said. Department officials then informed Mr. Gilbert that he would be fired, and he resigned shortly afterward, posting a GIF on social media with a joke from the movie “Anchorman,” in which the lead character exclaims, “Boy, that escalated quickly!”

As before, there is now a frantic search in the DOJ to find an attorney, any attorney, who will file a bad-faith indictment against the DOJ attorneys and FBI agents who investigated Russia’s 2016 interference.

In the meantime, the House Judiciary Committee plans to call former Special Counsel Jack Smith to testify about his investigation of Trump. The Republicans may regret that decision. On Tuesday, Smith made his first public comments since resigning from his post as Special Counsel after the Supreme Court said Trump could commit crimes with impunity. See NYTimes, Jack Smith Calls Idea That Politics Infected Trump Prosecutions ‘Ludicrous’. (Accessible to all.)

Per the NYTimes, Jack Smith said the following:

The idea that politics played a role in who worked on that case, or who got chosen, is ludicrous.” Mr. Smith offered a dour hourlong assessment of Mr. Trump’s campaign of retribution against his enemies, rebuking the indictments of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, over the objections of career prosecutors. He also called out the forced resignations of prosecutors who unsuccessfully opposed White House efforts to drop the bribery case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York. “Nothing like what we see now has ever gone on,” he said. “There are rules in the department about how to bring a case — follow those rules,” he added. “You can’t say: ‘I want this outcome. Let me throw the rules out.’”

I think having Jack Smith testify before the House Oversight Committee to revisit the evidence against Trump is a brilliant idea. That would force the House to come back into session, allowing the discharge petition to become effective, and forcing a vote on the Epstein Transparency Act, which calls for the DOJ to release the Epstein files.

Acting US Attorney Lindsey Halligan removes career prosecutor in Eastern District of Virginia

Former insurance attorney turned acting US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, has apparently fired or transferred the senior prosecutor in that office, Maggie Cleary. Although there is no word on why that has happened, the reason seems clear: Maggie Cleary’s name did not appear on the indictments of James Comey and Letitia James, forcing Lindsey Halligan to appear as the sole attorney on the indictments.

See CNN, Senior prosecutor removed as Lindsey Halligan reshapes key US attorney’s office.

This appears to be another case of firing DOJ attorneys in retribution for refusing to bring politically motivated prosecutions to please Trump.

Trump threatens to remove the World Cup Tournament from Boston and the Olympics from Los Angeles

Trump has no authority to decide where FIFA plays the games of its World Cup Tournament or where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decides to hold the Olympics. But Trump has threatened to pressure the presidents of FIFA and the IOC to move the venues away from Boston and Los Angeles. See The Guardian, Trump threatens removal of World Cup games from Boston, Olympics from LA.

The worst thing that could happen to Trump, from his perspective, is to get between sports fans and their ability to watch the World Cup and Olympic Games. Trump isn’t going to move the games because it would be logistically impossible to do so. But if he did, he would have a whole new constituency of voters who hate him. Heck, they will hate him for threatening to do so.

U.S. airports refuse to run video of Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for government shutdown

The Hatch Act prohibits government employees from engaging in partisan politics while performing their official duties. The Trump administration has reduced the Hatch Act to a quaint relic of the beforetimes. For example, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has distributed a video of her blaming Democrats for the government shutdown—at a time when Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the presidency.

Fortunately, airports across the nation are refusing to subject travelers to the blatantly improper use of government communications to blame Democrats for the shutdown. See The Guardian, US airports refuse to air Kristi Noem video blaming Democrats for shutdown.

Although airports are subject to FAA jurisdiction, they are owned and operated by various municipal and state agencies. They are right to resist the politicization of the shutdown by Homeland Security. The refusal to comply with the prohibitions of the Hatch Act is another sign of Trump’s wannabe status as dictator!

Concluding Thoughts

Trump is struggling with the voters—and Republicans know it. That is why they are working so hard to engage in even more gerrymandering in red states to increase the number of “safe” Republican seats in the House. If they weren’t worried, they wouldn’t do it. They are worried, so they are increasing partisan gerrymandering, bigtime!

A recent analysis in The Economist provides a stark view (for Trump) of just how widespread and deep his unfavorability ratings are. Before looking at The Economist, let’s say it together: Polls aren’t votes, it’s the trend that matters over time and across polls, and nothing is over until the last vote is counted.

But it should give you confidence that there is nothing wrong with your grip on reality when you read the most recent nationwide polling described in The Economist, Donald Trump’s approval rating. The article is behind a paywall, so it may not be available to all (but I was able to read the article without signing in, so perhaps it is unlocked.)

The polling and discussion are impressive in their detail, but here is the big takeaway: In every leading issue, in every major cohort of voters, and in 43 states (excluding MT, ND, ID, WV, TN, AR, and AL), Trump is underwater in approval ratings.

He has moved from positive to negative territory on inflation, healthcare, jobs, immigration, and crime. He has lost ground in every voting cohort except for white males with a high school diploma or less, and even there, Trump is slightly underwater.

None of this means that we can ease up. But it should give us confidence that our feelings are shared by millions of Americans who supported Trump in 2024 and are now disappointed (at least) in his performance.

Although Trump isn’t on the ballot in 2026 and 2028, we know that every Republican on the ballot will defend Trump to the hilt—including on the Epstein files, tariffs, healthcare cuts, mass firings, attacks on universities, military occupation of cities, and more.

As we protest in the coming weeks, we should remember that there is a receptive audience who are unhappy with Trump and willing to be persuaded. Let’s focus on inviting them to Team Democracy rather than blaming them for the crisis we find ourselves in. Our job is to convince more Americans to join us in the streets in peaceful protest until our numbers are so large that we cannot be ignored.