The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently hired 21-year-old Peyton Rollins, a former employee of the U.S. Labor Department, to manage its social media accounts.
This hire is currently under scrutiny, as reported by The New York Times, due to posts Rollins made on Labor Department accounts that reportedly "raised internal alarms over possible white-nationalist messaging."
Scrutiny Details from The New York Times
Times reporter Evan Gorelick's article states that Rollins spent a significant part of the past year transforming the Labor Department's social media pages. Current and former employees indicated that career staff members were reportedly sidelined after Rollins' arrival, with Rollins personally crafting and posting social media content.
Gorelick's report notes that recent federal government posts, attributed to Rollins, utilized evocative imagery, described as reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s, alongside phrases like "Restore American Greatness" and "the globalist status quo is OVER."
During the period when these posts were active, the department's social media following reportedly increased. Simultaneously, colleagues reportedly warned superiors that the department's accounts could be perceived as promoting "white-supremacist rhetoric, Nazi imagery and QAnon conspiracy theories." Some employees who have since left the Labor Department stated that the agency's posts grew increasingly questionable.
Colleagues reportedly warned superiors that the department's accounts could be perceived as promoting "white-supremacist rhetoric, Nazi imagery and QAnon conspiracy theories."
According to "a dozen internal e-mails and Microsoft Teams conversations obtained by The New York Times," Rollins' co-workers reportedly expressed discomfort with the posts. They cited data showing engagement with right-wing extremists and advocated for a more moderate messaging style.
Egan Reich, a former Labor Department employee who spent 15 years with the agency before departing in April 2025, told The New York Times that the situation was "incredibly chilling and disappointing," stating it diminished the work done to educate people about the government.