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Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

wired.com

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Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#31

Post by mikeyouse »

Alupis wrote: post #17
mikeyouse wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of HR 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations.” Come on. The message is overtly political (blaming democrats for the shutdown when republicans control the presidency + the house + the senate) and 100% of the people pretending it’s not would be outraged if the same thing was posted under a different administration.

Which part of the statement is false or campaigning? Is it not true Democrats have blocked the passage of the bill? Of course it is.. and people should know that, shouldn't they?

‘People should be lied to by the government out of political convenience’ is a theory I guess. Though not one I’d endorse.

It’s equally true that “Senate republicans failed to put forth a spending CR that could attract 60 votes” or “Senate republicans failed to pass filibuster reform to only require 50 votes on spending measures.” Are equally true statements yet somehow they didn’t make the autoresponders. Weird.

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#32

Post by smelendez »

philipallstar wrote: post #6
Simulacra wrote: post #3

That's ridiculous, and could be illegal, because in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee. If that's not a first amendment violation, I don't know what is. Federal employees are not allowed to be involved in politics while they are employed by the federal government, I know there's exceptions and everything, but at its core this action is repugnant.

> in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee Would you say that a company adding a standard footer to your outgoing emails is taking on your speech?

It depends on what the footer says.

This isn't a company though, it's the government, and it's generally considered unprofessional if not illegal for federal employees to make partisan statements on the job. There's also the fact that, in my experience, out-of-office autoreplies are generally drafted by the employee while footers are often standardized by the employer.

Additionally, there are strict rules on what federal civil servants can do during a shutdown that don't really apply in private industry, which means whatever official channels would exist to complain probably aren't available. I don't think furloughed employees are supposed to send official email, either, which means they can't clarify who provided this message even if someone is confused by it.

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#33

Post by Alupis »

mikeyouse wrote: post #18
briandear wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it factual?

No.

Can you elaborate on which part you believe isn't true?

The bill already passed the House. The Democrats have a minorotiy in the Senate. 60 votes are required to pass the bill - and Democrats are holding it up, deliberately for political reasons.

It's entirely factual.

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#34

Post by fhdkweig »

Alupis wrote: post #5
ck2 wrote: post #2

DOGE f-kery it's pretty obvious they can now search and replace across most if not all government websites now let's hope that backdoor is locked down and not available for foreign entities and this is of course a massive Hatch-Act violation but we're way past law breaking this far into the regime

[flagged]

I couldn't read the article on Wired, but I found this one at MSN https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/education-department...

It says: The altered email messages included language saying: "Thank you for contacting me. On September 10, 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 of appropriations, I am currently in furlough status. I will respond to emails once government functions resume."

I don't like that it includes "I" and "me" because it looks like someone is putting words in the employee's mouth. I wouldn't consider that factual.

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#36

Post by ambicapter »

philipallstar wrote: post #6
Simulacra wrote: post #3

That's ridiculous, and could be illegal, because in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee. If that's not a first amendment violation, I don't know what is. Federal employees are not allowed to be involved in politics while they are employed by the federal government, I know there's exceptions and everything, but at its core this action is repugnant.

> in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee Would you say that a company adding a standard footer to your outgoing emails is taking on your speech?

Why are you bringing in private companies as an argument in a discussion about free speech, which only applies to government entities?

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#37

Post by nonethewiser »

plantwallshoe wrote: post #20
Alupis wrote: post #8

[flagged]

It’s not factual that democratic senators are blocking the bill. Republicans have a majority in both houses and can pass the bill at any time.

The Republicans have 53 votes. They need 60. They got 55.

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#38

Post by dingnuts »

plantwallshoe wrote: post #20
Alupis wrote: post #8

[flagged]

It’s not factual that democratic senators are blocking the bill. Republicans have a majority in both houses and can pass the bill at any time.

not true, they do not have a super majority in the Senate and need a handful of Democrats to vote with them to achieve the 60 votes they need.

that said, somehow the Democrats always find Republicans to compromise with them when they have a simple majority, so I do not know why it is so hard for the Republicans to soften their demands enough to peel off some moderates to vote with them

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#39

Post by lesuorac »

philipallstar wrote: post #6
Simulacra wrote: post #3

That's ridiculous, and could be illegal, because in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee. If that's not a first amendment violation, I don't know what is. Federal employees are not allowed to be involved in politics while they are employed by the federal government, I know there's exceptions and everything, but at its core this action is repugnant.

> in changing the response, they are taking on the speech of the named employee Would you say that a company adding a standard footer to your outgoing emails is taking on your speech?

I don't think I've ever worked anywhere that does that.

What does the footer say?

Re: Gov workers say their shutdown out-of-office replies were forcibly changed

#40

Post by Alupis »

mikeyouse wrote: post #31
Alupis wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which part of the statement is false or campaigning? Is it not true Democrats have blocked the passage of the bill? Of course it is.. and people should know that, shouldn't they?

‘People should be lied to by the government out of political convenience’ is a theory I guess. Though not one I’d endorse. It’s equally true that “Senate republicans failed to put forth a spending CR that could attract 60 votes” or “Senate republicans failed to pass filibuster reform to only require 50 votes on spending measures.” Are equally true statements yet somehow they didn’t make the autoresponders. Weird.

Always finding a way to blame the Republicans... last time they were in the minority and were blamed for shutting down the government. Now they're in the majority and you still want to blame them for shutting down the government.

To summarize, you want to blame the oppositition for not passing your flavor of a spending bill, ie. one that suits your politics. Elections have consequences - and the longer Democrats drag this out the more excuse the executive branch will have to permanentely lay off people and shutdown departments.

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