The Office of Special Counsel will not discipline anyone over the flood of agency messages that blamed Democrats for the fall 2025 government shutdown, it said in a report dated Sept. 25, 2026. The shutdown Hatch Act review covered more than 1,000 complaints and ended without a final ruling on whether any message broke the law. Instead, OSC used the report to spell out how it will judge party references in official communications from here on.
Where it stands: The assessment is OSC’s last word on the shutdown cases. As of Oct. 28, 2026, OSC had not published any decision applying its revised test to the separate complaints filed against cabinet officials during the midterm campaign.
Most agencies that answered OSC said their messages were permitted by its own 2024 guidance, and OSC accepted that agencies had reasonably relied on it. More broadly, the White House and federal agencies say the Hatch Act complaints against Trump officials are politically motivated, according to The New York Times.
What did the OSC shutdown Hatch Act report find?
It found reliance, not violations. According to the assessment, complaints started arriving in September 2025 and named employees at 37 federal agencies and the White House. They said officials used government websites, emails and social media to cast blame for the October and November 2025 funding lapse on one party. For scale, OSC said it typically receives fewer than 300 Hatch Act complaints in a year with no federal election.
OSC asked each agency to explain. Most pointed to a September 2024 advisory, Federal News Network reported. Several did not answer at all: the report names HUD, Defense (listed under its “DoW” label), GSA, Education, and DHS with its component agencies as offices that “either did not respond or refused to provide the requested information.”
The conclusion: “Because of agencies’ reasonable reliance on the 2024 Advisory, OSC has determined that disciplinary action is neither warranted nor appropriate in the shutdown messaging cases.” OSC added that some messages “raise Hatch Act concerns” on their face but that it “makes no final determination about them.”
Why did agencies think the messages were allowed?
The answer traces to a complaint about then-Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. In a September 2024 opinion, OSC cleared an email he sent to student-loan borrowers that blamed “Republican elected officials” for lawsuits. The opinion said references to a political party, “without more, typically do not constitute political activity” when officials discuss legislation or policy.
Agencies read the words “without more” as broad cover. OSC said in 2026 that it never meant the opinion to stretch that far, but found the reading understandable because its Hatch Act Unit staff was furloughed during the shutdown and could not answer agencies’ questions. Under OSC’s longstanding position, employees who follow its advice “effectively enjoy safe harbor” from prosecution.
Which shutdown messages drew concern?
The report sorts messages by tone and audience. On one side it placed an Office of Management and Budget note to employees, sent before the lapse, that blamed Senate Democrats for blocking a funding bill but “used a measured tone, was not distributed to the public,” and warned of furloughs.
On the other side were public banners and pages. The report quotes a site notice reading, “Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse,” and cites the White House’s satirical “mysafespace” page, which, Government Executive noted, posed as a social media profile for congressional Democrats. OSC said those messages used inflammatory language and reached wide audiences, factors that “might weigh” toward a violation. It also disclosed that after the shutdown it raised concerns with the White House Counsel’s Office about the mysafespace page, and the content came down.
What is OSC’s new test for party references?
OSC now asks how a mention of a party is framed, when it is made and how widely it travels. Government Executive summarized the warning: derogatory tone and broad distribution “might weigh in favor of finding” that a message aimed at “affecting the outcome of future elections.”
| Factor | OSC: unlikely to be political activity | OSC: likely to be political activity |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Incidental to a live policy dispute | Gratuitous |
| Timing | Far from any election | Close to an election |
| Tone | Neutral | Framed as an attack on a party |
| Election words | None | Voting, candidates, campaigns: likely a violation |
In OSC’s words, references “incidental to describing a live legislative or operational dispute, are temporally removed from any election, and are neutrally framed are unlikely to be political activity,” while references that are “gratuitous, made close to an election, and framed as an attack on a party are likely to be political activity.” Any party reference paired with talk of “voting, campaigns, candidates, elections, or primaries” is likely to cross the line.
📨 Get Free Accountability Coverage Alerts
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
The New York Times summarized the change as finding messaging “separate from a specific electoral contest” was “unlikely” to be barred. OSC’s own text is narrower than that paraphrase: all three conditions in the first column must hold, and timing near an election weighs against an agency. That matters this fall, because official messaging now sits days from the Nov. 3 vote.
How did watchdog groups react?
Common Cause, which the Times says filed dozens of complaints during the shutdown, called for new legislation. “What we’re seeing is a glaring need for Hatch Act reform,” Abigail Bellows, who leads the group’s anti-corruption work, told the Times, adding that the law is “completely inadequate for the task at the moment.” Her remarks appeared only in the Times among sources reviewed for this article.
The group’s October 2025 filings went beyond the Hatch Act. Alongside Hatch Act complaint forms submitted to OSC, the Common Cause bundle includes requests asking the Government Accountability Office to examine appropriations-law issues, including the Anti-Deficiency Act, and Anti-Lobbying Act complaints to inspectors general. Proposals to change the law are tracked in our Hatch Act reform explainer, and the background on OSC’s process is in our guide to OSC’s enforcement process.
The administration, for its part, has not conceded that any message was unlawful, and OSC’s report does not say any was. The report, dated Sept. 25, 2026, is the most recent standard OSC has published for official communications ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did OSC find that agencies violated the Hatch Act during the shutdown?
No. OSC said some messages raised concerns on their face but that it made no final determination, and it declined to pursue discipline because agencies reasonably relied on its 2024 advisory.
How many shutdown Hatch Act complaints did OSC receive?
More than 1,000, naming employees at 37 federal agencies and the White House, according to OSC’s Sept. 25, 2026 assessment.
Can a federal agency blame a political party in official messages?
Sometimes. Under OSC’s revised guidance, neutral references tied to a live policy dispute and made far from an election are unlikely to be political activity; attack-framed references close to an election, or any that mention voting or candidates, likely are.
Why didn’t OSC investigate further?
OSC said more investigation would tax its limited resources and not materially change the outcome, given that agencies had relied on its earlier advice.
Does the shutdown report affect complaints against cabinet secretaries?
Not directly. Those complaints mostly involve campaign appearances, not agency messaging, and OSC had not announced decisions on them as of Oct. 28, 2026.
Sources
- Hatch Act Assessment and Advisory: Partisan Agency Communications During the 2025 Lapse in Appropriations — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, September 25, 2026
- Watchdog won’t discipline agencies over partisan shutdown posts but warns against ‘derogatory’ messaging — Government Executive, September 25, 2026
- OSC won’t fully investigate Hatch Act complaints around shutdown messages — Federal News Network, September 25, 2026
- Trump Admin Ethics Complaints, 2025 Govt Shutdown — Common Cause, October 3, 2025
- Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026
This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.