Even as the pay for nearly 2 million federal workers remains suspended, 750,000 told not to work and others asked to offer their services without pay – fellow Americans and their families dependent on monthly paychecks left high and dry on how they’re going to pay their next bills, the Donald Trump-led administration is doing everything to shrug off responsibility and (you guessed it right!) nothing to salvage the situation created by the ongoing government shutdown.
In fact what it’s prioritizing at this difficult time is winning the blame game about whose actions started the ongoing government shutdown.
And in this regard, Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned – going as far as to use the government machinery to spread partisan political agenda, and even sending doctored out-of-office replies on behalf of government employees who are temporarily (and possibly even permanently) out of work following the shutdown.
This is despite the fact that Trump is actually celebrating the shutdown which has pushed the daily lives of millions of US government employees into whirlpools of uncertainty.
In Trump-era, this is how one is repaid for serving the country.
Misinformation campaign on official US government websites
Donald Trump has begun a misinformation campaign being doled out from no less than the official websites of US government departments, in a bid to shrug off responsibility for kick-starting the shutdown.
A lawsuit filed in this regard before the United States District Court of Columbia has pointed out that soon after the government shutdown “numerous federal agencies posted highly partisan messages on their official websites, blaming the “Democrats” or the “Radical Left” for the shutdown.”
The suit has listed, and Hands Off United has verified (as of 6 October, 10.20 am) that the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the US Small Business Association, the U.S. Department of Treasury, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are all hosting messages on their official websites blaming the “Democrats” and/ or the “Radical Lefts” for the shutdown.
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of State)
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of Justice)
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of Agriculture)
(Via the official website of U.S. Small Business Administration)
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
(Via the official website of U.S. Department of Treasury)
Although political parties blaming each other for government shutdowns has been a regular feature in the past too, Trump has stooped to an unprecedented low by getting federal departments to endorse his propaganda.
Doctoring employees’ out-of-office emails
As if all this was not enough, the administration has also been sending doctored messages from the official accounts of some government employees, blaming Democrat senators for the shutdown.
The suit points out that on October 1, several Department of Education employees discovered to their horror, that the language in their originally set-up out-of-office messages was modified – without their knowledge or consent!
The originally non-partisan messages now read: “Thank you for contacting me. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations, I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume.”
While the aggrieved employees told CNN that they feel “violated”, the Department of Education represented by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications went so far as to openly accept the charge in a statement, making no attempts to cover up the blatant violation of the Hatch Act.
The Hatch Act provides that federal government officials and employees must perform their duties in a nonpartisan manner.
Here, they're not deliberately being stopped from upholding non-partisan conduct.
In reality, Trump is celebrating the “opportunity”
All his efforts to distance himself from the ongoing shutdown and the effects of it are despite the fact that Trump is, in reality, celebrating the shutdown and what he calls an “opportunity” to send millions of Americans into furloughs.
Of their own admission, the Trump administration has set in motion its politically-motivated plans to cut down on Democrat agencies that don’t align with the President’s values.
Hardly able to contain his glee, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Confirming Trump’s intentions White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “We’re looking at agencies that don’t align with the president’s values” and “that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar”?!
And do the Republicans care what their Commander-in-Chief is up to? Evidently not.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly defended Trump’s move saying, "When Congress turns off the funding and the funding runs out, it is up to the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to determine how those resources will be spent. He has that responsibility given to him by the Democrats in the Senate. They can't complain about it."
Horrific impact of the Government Shutdown – TWO MILLION federal workers’ pay suspended
Although the numbers say that pay has been suspended for roughly 2 million federal workers, with roughly 750,000 ordered not to work and others, such as troops and Border Patrol agents required to work without pay, the harsh truth is that beyond numbers, this translates to almost 3 million American families being affected.
(Data from NY Times)
And their hardships may just have started, with no end in sight for the shutdown before October 15, when the next paychecks are due to be issued.
A prolonged shutdown could mean further trouble also for the already overworked and understaffed Air Traffic Control, would likely threaten food aid for millions of Americans, and indefinitely suspend scientific research, economic data reports, government contracts and other activities.
The longest government shutdown which lasted 35 days in 2018 and 2019, was also during Trump's first term.
“People aren’t pawns”
Meanwhile even as a bull-headed Donald Trump wreaks a carnage on the daily lives of millions of Americans, some leaders are still trying to talk good sense into him.
Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair on the Senate Appropriations Committee, reminded Trump that ultimately the firings that follow the shutdown would not be because of the shutdown itself, but “because HE decided to fire them”.
Summing up the crisis she wrote on social media, "People aren’t negotiating tools & it's sick that the president is treating federal workers like pawns. Making threats and choosing to hurt people won't win my vote.”