Editing federal employees’ emails to blame Democrats for shutdown violated their First Amendment rights, judge says

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/politics/emails-blaming-democrats-shutdown-violate-first-amendment

35 comments

  1. A federal judge ruled Friday that the Department of Education [violated the First Amendment rights of some agency employees](https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/politics/emails-blaming-democrats-shutdown-violate-first-amendment) when it sent out-of-office messages on their behalf that blamed Democrats for the government shutdown.

    The ruling from US District Judge Christopher Cooper is the latest court rebuke of controversial moves by the Trump administration during what has now become the longest shutdown in US history.

    Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the department had unconstitutionally compelled its employees’ speech when it tinkered with the out-of-office messages for furloughed workers so that they included language blaming the shutdown on “Democrat Senators” who “are blocking” passage of a “clean continuing resolution” that would fund the government.

    “Nonpartisanship is the bedrock of the federal civil service; it ensures that career government employees serve the public, not the politicians,” Cooper wrote. “But by commandeering its employees’ e-mail accounts to broadcast partisan messages, the Department chisels away at that foundation.”

    He continued: “Political officials are free to blame whomever they wish for the shutdown, but they cannot use rank-and-file civil servants as their unwilling spokespeople. The First Amendment stands in their way. The Department’s conduct therefore must cease.”

  2. No wonder when I went on a government website today it didn’t bombard me with how the democrats are Satan worshippers

  4. I don’t really get how the punishment for violating the 1st amendment rights of others is “don’t do that anymore.” Every employee should get paid serious cash money for such a partisan hack move.

  5. Violated the constitution, let’s start calling it what it is anytime these fucks violate your rights.

  8. At some point the wilful disregard for the law should be taken as not accidents but intentional and habitual.

    We are leaving the door open and the criminals are coming in and doing what they want, and we are asking them to please not.

    At some point you have to kick them out and close the fucking door.

    The judiciary needs to have the teeth to compel by force or eject those who knowingly and willfully disregard our laws, freedoms, and inalienable rights enshrined in the constitution.

  10. Dump will appeal and MAGA SCOTUS will just overturn the ruling. Our democracy is dying in real time

  11. We’ve had some states do the same blaming republicans. Cash money all around nice 💵💵💵

  14. Uhhh I just visited the Whitehouse.gov website for the first time since shutdown. And HOLY CRAP the blame game!!!! So much of it is just pandering blame they paint themselves to be perfect and shift EVERYTHING to democrats.

    How the hell is this even allowed??!?! Its just blatantly trying to cause unrest instead of explaining the actual situation.

  17. Look if you have to force your views on others, maybe your views are not correct.

  19. Sure sure but it’ll go to SCOTUS and the Christian conservatives there will be like yeah but a Republican did it so it’s fine.

  20. The obsession with blame over creating a solution is just embarrassing

  21. Okay, so, who’s going to jail over this?

    Because if no one is going to jail over this, their just going to keep doing this shit.

  22. You’re damn right it did, but none of the people actually in charge care 🤡

  23. Send the maga that violated their rights to jail then. Wtf

  27. This administration just repeatedly violating the constitution seemingly every day and no one is fucking stopping it.

  28. The president is a billionaire pedophile. This is what our country is now, an absolute circus. MAGA did the opposite of what their acronym stands for.

  30. Trump could murder someone… wait. People are starving and dying from unaffordable healthcare. 

  33. So who gets held “accountable” for this?

    If it’s nobody/nothing

    I can’t wait for Democrats to return the favor

  34. > Cooper permanently barred the administration from “modifying furloughed employees’ out-of-office e-mail messages to include partisan speech” for all members of the union American Federation of Government Employees. AFGE represents more than 2,000 workers at the Department of Education.

    That was already law under the Hatch Act! And why are they only barred from modifying union members’ OOO messages?!

  35. The Supreme Court any minute: stay is issued. We will hear the merits of the case in 18 months, until then keep sending messages that other people *didn’t say* on their behalf.

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