More: "None of us consented to this. And it's written in the first-person, as if I'm the one conveying this message, and I'm not. I don't agree with it. I don't think it's ethical or legal. I think it violates the Hatch Act," this person said, referring to the law that imposes limits on political activity by federal employees.

"I took the statement that they sent us earlier in the week to use. And I pasted it on top of that " basically has a standard out-of-office," another one of the Department of Education employees said. "They went in and manipulated my out-of-office reply. I guess they're now making us all guilty of violating the Hatch Act."