Hud’s Scott Turner Defends Website Text Amid Hatch Act Complaint

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) drew scrutiny on Tuesday after its official government website displayed a banner and pop-up message blaming the “radical left” for a government shutdown.

“The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands,” the banner read. “The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”

The shutdown began at midnight on Oct. 1 after the Senate failed to advance a short-term funding measure that cleared the House of Representatives earlier.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, also posted the same message on his official X account, writing that “HUD.gov has been updated accordingly.”

As a result, Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, filed a complaint Tuesday with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, alleging the banner on HUD’s website violated the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that prohibits federal civil service employees from engaging in political activity.

“This is such an obvious violation of the Hatch Act that it raises the question: ‘How on Earth does HUD think they can get away with this?’ The answer is that the Trump administration has managed to neuter the ethics enforcement offices in the executive branch. Those who are responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act — namely, the Office of Special Counsel, followed by the Office of Government Ethics and the Attorney General’s office — have all been taken over by Trump loyalists or those who are intimidated by Trump,” commented Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with Public Citizen who filed the complaint.

Public Citizen did not respond to HousingWire’s request for comment.

Chris Cuomo, host of News Nation’s “CUOMO” segment, called the messaging propaganda in an interview with Turner aired on Wednesday. Turner defended the banner, saying he was “not worried” that the messaging was a violation of the Hatch Act.

When asked about the complaint, an automatic message sent from HUD’s press email read, “The Radical Left has shut down the government. As a result, HUD’s Office of Public Affairs is operating in a limited capacity, which impacts our ability to promptly engage with the mainstream media. Once the government is reopened, we look forward to being back in touch.”

Corey Williams, OSC’s legislative affairs director and interim communications director, wrote in an automatic reply, “I am out of the office due to a lapse in federal appropriations and will respond upon return.”