In a striking departure from long-standing norms, several federal agencies are publicly blaming congressional Democrats for the government shutdown.

A banner on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website currently reads, “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources to help Americans in need.”

Kedric Payne leads the ethics program at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that advances democracy through law.

“It is extremely unusual and possibly unprecedented because there is no reason for an agency to get involved in such partisan statements to the public,” Payne said. “I worked previously in the federal government. We always had particular language that was ready for a shutdown, and never did it hav

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