() Scott Turner, President Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development, rejects accusations his agency was misusing its government website by publicly blaming Democrats for the government shutdown.

A red banner at the top of hud.gov on Wednesday evening offered this assessment: “The Radical Left in Congress shut down the government. HUD will use available resources help Americans in need.”

That message was shorter than the longer one posted the day before, on the eve of the shutdown, as documented in a Getty Images photograph. It said: “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.”

Appearing on “CUOMO” on Wednesday, Turner said he doesn’t agree with critics who suggest the messaging is a violation of the Hatch Act, the 1939 law that generally bans politicking with executive branch resources.

“I’m not used to seeing naked political propaganda on a government website. Are you worried about this violating the Hatch Act?” host Chris Cuomo asked.

Turner replied: “No, sir, we’re not worried at all, and this is not about propaganda, Chris, this is just about letting the American people know what’s going on.”

Why has the federal government shut down?

The federal government partially shut down Wednesday after Republicans who control Congress could not get Democrats to agree to a spending bill to keep things running into October. Democrats have demanded restoration of subsidies for low- and middle-income citizens who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The minority party also wants to reverse future Medicaid cuts the GOP passed as part of Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

With the federal government in shutdown mode, Turner said his agency would be “focused on serving the most vulnerable people of this country.” Asked how many public housing residents rely on Medicaid benefits, the HUD secretary said he didn’t know.

“I want to give you a right answer. I don’t want to just throw anything out there because that’s not how I operate,” Turner said.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed Wednesday, with essential workers continuing to show up with no pay. Active-duty service members could also miss a paycheck if the shutdown continues. Meanwhile, Trump has promised to use the shutdown as an excuse to fire additional federal workers; downsizing the government has been a big priority in his second term in office.

“The Democrats want to shut it down. So, when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So, we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected, and the Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” the president said.