Education Department employees surprised to find their email automatically changed to blame Democrats for shutdown

Education Department employees furloughed this week discovered their email accounts had been manipulated while they were out of office to include partisan talking points that blamed the government shutdown on Democrats.

Five employees who spoke with NBC News and provided copies of their out-of-office messages said the wording was altered from how they originally had composed them. All of them are civil servants, not political appointees, and requested anonymity out of fear of professional repercussions.

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One person reported changing the out-of-office message back to the nonpartisan version, only to have it revert to the partisan wording later.

“None of us consented to this. And it’s written in the first person, as if I’m the one conveying this message, and I’m not. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s ethical or legal. I think it violates the Hatch Act,” this person said, referring to the law that limit federal employees’ political activity.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/education-department-employees-email-automatically-changed-rcna235211