Federal employees across the government reported seeing similar messages. Experts say the messages may violate ethics laws meant to keep partisan politics out of day-to-day governing.

Let's do a thought experiment together. I want you to imagine that six months ago, you bought a couch. It's a lovely couch and you put a lot of time and energy into making sure you got the right one. For six months, you've sat on this couch, napped on it, sometimes even slept on it overnight. And then, one day, as you're laying on the couch, the armrest whispers to you, "Would you like to buy a soda?"