Housing Secretary Lets Staff Go Home Early For Easter To Reflect On Jesus | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner advised his hundreds of federal staff that they’ll go away work early Friday in honor of Easter and Passover, sending them a overtly non secular message declaring “all men are endowed by their creator” with sure rights and referencing a time when “Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world.”

Turner knowledgeable HUD staff in an inner electronic mail Wednesday evening that they’ll go away work 4 hours early Friday to start their non secular rituals.

“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 e-mail despatched on behalf of Turner by way of his chief of employees, Andrew Hughes.

He encourages authorities staff to move into the “holy weekend” reflecting on the freedoms they’ve “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.

Not solely does the HUD secretary’s message blur the road between church and state, however his name on employees to mirror on how how fortunate they’re to reside in a rustic that “puts her citizens first” is wildly disconnected from the fact that President Donald Trump is actively searching for methods to deport U.S. residentsarresting and detaining U.S. residents, deporting U.S. citizen kids with mother and father who’re undocumented and, most alarmingly, defying a Supreme Court order to convey again a Maryland man who was within the nation legally however deported to El Salvador because of an “administrative error.”

A HUD spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for touch upon why Turner despatched a message to authorities staff overtly celebrating Jesus and Christian beliefs. Instead, they criticized HuffPost for asking the query in any respect and began speaking about unrelated stuff like gangs.

“Huffington Post’s Trump Derangement Syndrome is so severe it is standing up for criminal gang members while standing against the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded on,” stated the HUD spokesperson. “Our constitution says that we were endowed by our creator. Every coin minted and dollar printed is minted with America’s motto ‘In God We Trust.’ HUD will continue to follow President Trump’s leadership in protecting our first amendment right to freedom of religion.”

(The U.S. Constitution doesn’t say we have been endowed by our creator.)

HuffPost obtained a screenshot of Turner’s electronic mail to HUD staff, however the picture is fairly crappy, so right here’s a transcript of the complete electronic mail:

Early Release for Easter and Passover

Skin employees,

On behalf of Secretary Scott Turner, I’m excited to announce there might be a four-hour early launch on Friday, April 18, 2025 in recognition of Easter and Passover this weekend.

Secretary Turner encourages our HUD workforce to mirror with household and mates as they break bread and have a good time the present of freedom.

America’s founding fathers proclaimed that every one males are endowed by their creator with the fitting to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — this declaration rang true because the Jews fled Egypt and located freedom within the Holy Land, and it rang true as soon as once more when Jesus broke bread and drank wine together with his disciples displaying that sacrifice can actually change the world.

We go into this holy weekend with freedoms that the world has by no means identified, and I hope that everybody at HUD takes a second to acknowledge what a privilege it’s to reside in a rustic that places her residents first.

Please see the connected Staff Bulletin with vital data on time conserving and directions for early dismissal. Please word, this early launch permits staff to finish their workday 4 hours previous to the top of their scheduled tour of obligation.

Thank you in your service and God Bless,

Andrew Hughes

Chief of Staff

Turner’s electronic mail was so overtly non secular that some HUD staff contacted the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nationwide nonprofit group targeted on defending the constitutional precept of separation between state and church. On Thursday, the group filed a criticism urging the HUD secretary to rescind his message.

This electronic mail “has made staff extremely uncomfortable,” reads the criticism from FFRF employees lawyer Samantha Lawrence.

“We ask that HUD reverse this decision and refrain from officially observing religious holidays going forward,” Lawrence stated. “Easter and Passover are not federal holidays, and these holidays hold significance only for people who practice Christianity or Judaism. It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for a government agency to close in observance of a Christian or Jewish holy day and use official communications channels to promote religion to employees.”

Turner’s message to HUD staff to “celebrate the gift of freedom” additionally comes at a time when Trump is assaulting Americans’ freedoms on a number of fronts. The president is making an attempt to suppress individuals’s freedom of speechthe freedom of the pressladies’s freedom to decide on whether or not to have an abortion, transgender individuals’s freedom to exist in any respectand the freedoms of a wholesome American democracy itself, to call some.

HuffPost heard from one Jewish HUD worker who famous the “break bread” reference in Turner’s electronic mail landed with a thud, as individuals explicitly don’t eat bread throughout Passover. The Jewish vacation commemorates Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, and Jews historically eat matzah rather than bread, as an emblem of how rapidly Israelites fled Egypt.

Other HUD staffers made unhappy jokes on social media about how getting to go away early Friday would possibly imply they’ll by no means come again, 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 referred to as for firing at the very least 50% of HUD staff, in some circumstances illegally. These cuts will disproportionately damage low-income and aged Americans.

“Please diligently check your email all Friday night for your RIF notice,” wrote one consumer on Reddit in a thread in regards to the HUD electronic mail. RIF is an acronym for discount in power.

“Jesus would never have sent RIF notices on the holy weekend,” wrote one other consumer.

Still one other responded“What about the Antichrist?”