title:  House Dems To White House Counsel: Trump’s Gag Orders Break Federal Laws – Lots Of Them
text: Donald Trump has placed gag orders on multiple federal agencies, telling them to not only cut off communication with the public and the press but also with members of Congress. Go figure, that didn t sit very well with some people, especially since that happens to be illegal. And two House Democrats have decided to take action.Rep. Elijah Cummings and Rep. Frank Pallone sent a letter to the White House Counsel asking that they  take immediate action to remedy the Trump Administration s apparent violations of multiple federal laws by imposing gag orders on federal employees that prevent them from communicating with Congress. The letter explained that the  gag orders appear to violate the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act  as well as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016  because they do not include a mandatory statement  explaining that employees are still allowed to talk to members of Congress and Inspectors General.The letter points out that the Consolidated Appropriations Act also states that if a federal employee tries to stop another federal employee from speaking to Congress about anything job related, they forfeit their salary.Cummings and Pallone cite  a memo issued by the Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and human Services on President Trump s first day in office,  which states: No correspondence to public officials (e.g. Members of Congress, Governors) or containing interpretations or statements of Department regulations or policy, unless specifically authorized by me or my designee, shall be sent between now and February 3. The congressmen write that this memo and similar restrictions placed on federal agencies such as the Departments of Interior, Transportation, and Agriculture,  appears to violate all of these laws. Cummings and Pallone then urged the Trump administration to  immediately rescind all  of the illegal gag orders. They added that  because of the magnitude of these problematic directives, we request that the President issue an official statement making clear to all federal employees that they have the right to communicate with Congress and that he and his Administration will not silence or retaliate against whistleblowers. Featured image by Alex Wong via Getty Images