WASHINGTON — Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner told his thousands of federal employees that they can leave work early Friday in honor of Easter and Passover, sending them a brazenly religious message declaring “all men are endowed by their creator” with certain rights and referencing a time when “Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world.”
Turner informed HUD workers in an internal email Wednesday night that they can leave work four hours early Friday to begin their religious rituals.
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“America’s founding fathers proclaimed that all men are endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — this declaration rang true as the Jews fled Egypt and found freedom in the Holy Land, and it rang true once again when Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world,” reads the email sent on behalf of Turner via his chief of staff, Andrew Hughes.
He encourages government employees to head into the “holy weekend” reflecting on the freedoms they have “that the world has never known.”
“I hope that everyone at HUD takes a moment to recognize what a privilege it is to live in a country that puts her citizens first,” reads Turner’s message.
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Not only does the HUD secretary’s message blur the line between church and state, but his call on staff to reflect on how how lucky they are to live in a country that “puts her citizens first” is wildly disconnected from the reality that President Donald Trump is actively looking for ways , the freedom of the press, women’s freedom to choose whether to have an abortion, transgender people’s freedom to exist at all, and the freedoms of a healthy American democracy itself, to name some.
HuffPost heard from one Jewish HUD employee who noted the “break bread” reference in Turner’s email landed with a thud, as people explicitly do not eat bread during Passover. The Jewish holiday commemorates Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, and Jews traditionally eat matzah in place of bread, as a symbol of how hastily Israelites fled Egypt.
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Other HUD staffers made sad jokes on social media about how getting to leave early Friday might mean they’ll never come back, as Trump has directed mass firings at HUD. Elon Musk, Trump’s billionaire buddy and head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has called for firing at least 50% of HUD workers, in some cases illegally. These cuts will disproportionately hurt low-income and elderly Americans.
“Please diligently check your email all Friday night for your RIF notice,” wrote one user on Reddit in a thread about the HUD email. RIF is an acronym for reduction in force.
“Jesus would never have sent RIF notices on the holy weekend,” wrote another user.
Still another responded, “What about the Antichrist?”
