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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Yes—in specific messages reported during the 2025 federal shutdown, agencies including the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) blamed Democrats for the funding lapse. The clearest example was an SBA out-of-office message offered as a suggested template. The reporting does not show that every federal worker received or used such language.
What messages were reported?
Small Business Administration: a suggested out-of-office template
WIRED reported that SBA employees received a suggested out-of-office message from the agency’s human resources office at 9:35 a.m. on October 1, 2025. The template said Senate Democrats had blocked H.R. 5371, described the shutdown as preventing the agency from serving small businesses, and said service would resume after the shutdown. It was a proposed template—not evidence that every employee used it. WIRED’s report covered the message.
The template also asserted that the shutdown affected “America’s 36 million small businesses” and stopped 320 small businesses a day from accessing $170 million in SBA-guaranteed funding. Those are figures attributed to the agency template as reported by WIRED; the report did not independently verify them.
- “36 million small businesses” — SBA template, as reported by WIRED in 2025.
- “320 small businesses per day” — SBA template, as reported by WIRED in 2025.
- “$170 million in SBA-guaranteed funding” per day — SBA template, as reported by WIRED in 2025.
HUD and DOJ: public-facing language
WIRED reported that a HUD website banner and pop-up stated: “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need.” It also reported that a DOJ website banner blamed Democrats for the shutdown. The coverage described internal HUD messaging and pre-shutdown emails at HUD and the Interior Department that blamed Democrats for blocking a continuing resolution. Some accounts came from anonymous employees, so they should be understood as WIRED’s reporting, not as independently examined agency records. WIRED’s account of the HUD and DOJ messages provides the reported wording and context.
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The messages concerned the funding lapse that began after federal spending authority expired at 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2025. WIRED reported on the communications on October 1 and described related messages sent before the lapse. This is a historical account of that shutdown, not evidence that agencies are currently sending the same messages.
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What did the later Office of Special Counsel assessment say?
On September 25, 2026, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced that it had completed an assessment of agency communications during the 2025 shutdown, including statements that Democrats or Democrat-led actors caused or prolonged it. OSC said disciplinary action was not warranted because federal employees reasonably relied on a 2024 OSC advisory. It also issued a new advisory to clarify the earlier guidance’s scope and limits. The announcement does not amount to a blanket ruling that every partisan agency communication was lawful. Read OSC’s announcement.
OSC’s general Hatch Act FAQ distinguishes between receiving partisan political email and sending it. Merely receiving such an email at work does not, by itself, violate the Act. Federal employees may not send or forward partisan political emails to others while on duty or in the workplace; a supervisor sending one to subordinates is an improper use of official authority. Those general statements do not resolve every shutdown-related case: the employee’s role and conduct, the circumstances, and the shutdown-specific advisory matter. OSC’s Hatch Act FAQ explains the general guidance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why were the messages criticized?
Don Moynihan, a University of Michigan public policy professor, told WIRED: “The tone of the language is very antagonistic and partisan in a way we don’t expect from formal messaging from agency leaders.” He also described the suggested SBA template as “coerced speech where the government is forcing employees to spread its propaganda in communicating with the public.” Those are Moynihan’s criticisms, not findings by OSC. WIRED quoted Moynihan on the language and the proposed template.
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What the reporting does—and does not—establish
- It establishes reported examples at named agencies. The messages described by WIRED involved the SBA, HUD, DOJ, and, in pre-shutdown email accounts, the Interior Department.
- It does not establish a workforce-wide directive. The SBA text was suggested, and the reporting does not show that every employee received or used it.
- The SBA funding figures remain attributed claims. They appeared in the template described by WIRED and were not independently verified in that coverage.
- The legal context is fact-specific. OSC’s later announcement explained why it found discipline unwarranted in the assessed circumstances and clarified guidance for the future; it should not be treated as a universal legal judgment on all political messaging by agencies.
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