HUD Slammed for 'Partisan' Message on Shutdown

The finger-pointing was in full swing on Wednesday in the initial hours of a government shutdown. Republicans blame Democrats, while Democrats blame Republicans, which isn't much of a surprise. What's unusual this time: Government agencies are also entering the fray.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development posted an online message on Tuesday claiming that the administration "wants to keep the government open for the American people," while blaming the shutdown on "the Radical Left" and its "$1.5 trillion wish list of demands," per CBS News.
• Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, claiming this "highly partisan" message is a "blatant violation" of the Hatch Act, which is meant to ensure the nonpartisan administration of federal programs.

• Craig Holman, a government ethics expert who filed the complaint on Public Citizen's behalf, argues the "obvious violation" was only possible because "the Trump administration has managed to neuter the ethics enforcement offices in the executive branch." Trump fired the head of the OSC in February.
• However, a HUD official tells NBC News that there was no violation in the message, which was carefully worded to avoid naming a specific party or politician.
• Several other government agencies received an unsigned memo on Tuesday claiming Trump supports the funding bill, but that "Democrats are blocking this Continuing Resolution in the US Senate due to unrelated policy demands," per NBC.
• Republicans have put forth "a relatively straightforward continuing resolution" funding the government at current spending levels for the next seven weeks, which previously passed the House, per the Washington Post.

• Democrats are holding out for an extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and a rollback of Medicaid cuts written in the "big, beautiful bill," saying this will prevent millions of Americans from losing coverage or paying higher premiums.
• "Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save health care. That's what this fight is all about," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday, per the Post.
• Democrats hope to learn from what they see as a mistake in March to keep the government funded rather than risk Trump slashing more government programs, per the Post. Though the administration has threatened to fire more federal workers during the shutdown, Democrats believe this would turn voters against Republicans.
• Asked Wednesday why he didn't support the health care push, House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed Democrats want "to give health care to illegal aliens instead of keeping critical services provided for the American citizen." As CBS reports, some Republicans deny the "big, beautiful bill" cut Medicaid at all but simply got rid of fraud.
• Democrats appear to be rallying in a way many thought impossible just weeks ago. One House Democrat tells the Post that Trump's sharing of a fake video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talking about benefits for immigrants on Monday "emboldened us, including some of us moderates, to hold the line."
• Democratic leaders say internal polling shows voters will blame Trump for the shutdown. A New York Times poll shows respondents are "equally likely to blame both parties," per the Post, though independents are twice as likely to blame Trump.