ISTANBUL
US Education Department employees on Thursday discovered that their email auto-replies had been changed to blame Democrats for the government shutdown.
Five employees of the department, who spoke to NBC by hiding their identity due to security concerns, said that their original out-of-office messages had been altered without their consent.
Initially, the department had provided workers with neutral, nonpartisan templates for their email responses.
Several employees said they had used this official wording earlier in the week, only to later find it had been changed while they were on furlough.
“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,” an employee said, citing the law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity.
“I took the statement that they sent us earlier in the week to use. And I pasted it on top of that — basically has a standard out-of-office,” another employee said.
“They went in and manipulated my out-of-office reply. I guess they’re now making us all guilty of violating the Hatch Act," the employee added.