A giant red banner on the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website has blamed the looming government shutdown on the 'radical left', in an unusual move by the Trump administration. The banner appeared on Tuesday morning after Republican and Democratic leaders failed to reach an agreement on government spending legislation ahead of the Tuesday night deadline, which will result in hundreds of thousands of employees being furloughed and key agency functions shutting down.
The message on the HUD website, which also appears as a pop-up window, states: '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 Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.' The language mirrors that used by the White House on social media and by the president in his personal posts.
Critics have condemned the move as partisan and inappropriate. Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor who served as general counsel to the Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration, described the HUD website as 'ridiculous, propagandistic rhetoric'. He added: 'The Trump administration has been gutting the legitimate functions of the domestic agencies, including HUD. They have been refusing to spend money that Congress appropriated. They have been refusing to carry out programs Congress created. And so why shouldn’t, in this moment, HUD be turned into just a propaganda arm?'
Other federal agencies did not appear to have similar messages on their homepages, though some internal messages suggest similar tactics. Pete Kasperowicz, a Department of Veterans Affairs spokesperson, issued a statement with similarly charged political rhetoric, blaming 'radical liberals in Congress' for trying to shut down the government. Leaders of both parties have blamed the closures on the other side.
After a meeting on Monday with Trump failed to produce an agreement, the president posted a racist deepfake video on his Truth Social platform targeting Democratic leaders. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded on Tuesday, saying: 'We are fighting to lower the high cost of living and to protect the healthcare of everyday Americans. Mr President, the next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.'
