Judge Prohibits Education Department From Using Partisan Out-of-Office Emails for Employees

The judge and the department differed over whether the messages constituted a violation of the First Amendment.

The Department of Education in Washington on April 28, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A federal judge said on Nov. 7 that the Department of Education violated the First Amendment by using employee email accounts to send out-of-office messages blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.

“When government employees enter public service, they do not sign away their First Amendment rights, and they certainly do not sign up to be a billboard for any given administration’s partisan views,” U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said in his 36-page opinion.