Watchdog agency beefs up Hatch Act to clamp down on political activity by White House officials
White House officials who break the law by engaging in political activity in their roles will soon start facing actual consequences.
The Office of Special Counsel, tasked with enforcing the Hatch Act, moved to close a “loophole” in which the president had the sole prerogative to pursue or ignore infractions.
In a new enforcement guideline rolled out Monday, violations by White House officials will instead be adjudicated by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which can then levy penalties.
“Senior White House personnel (including assistants to the president and others deemed commissioned officers) aren’t being subjected to the law’s full enforcement. Today, that changes,” Hampton Dellinger, head of the OSC, wrote in a Politico piece.
Previously, the MSPB was not fully stacked with Senate-confirmed members, which served as justification for the three-member panel not fully enforcing the act in a 1978 Department of Justice opinion.
The Hatch Act, which was passed in 1939, prohibits civil-service employees in presidential administrations from engaging in partisan political activity.
It does not apply to the president, vice president and most Senate-confirmed roles.
For years, key White House officials have flouted the law with abandon.
This includes White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who often invokes the Hatch Act to skirt politically charged questions, and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Back in 2019, the OSC recommended former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway be removed from her post due to the sheer volume of violations.
But prior to the new changes, the OSC would infrequently refer cases to the MSPB for enforcement, instead deferring to the president.
The OSC made two additional policy changes impacting White House staffers.
The OSC tweaked its policy to further crack down on political “swag” in federal offices as well as clothing backing a particular candidate, including before and after Election Day.
Another rule change stipulates that staffers who leave their roles can still face ramifications for infractions that occurred before they departed their positions.
“Finding the exact line between protected and prohibited workplace speech can involve close calls and judgment,” Dellinger added.
“The need to balance robust Hatch Act enforcement with careful consideration of government employee speech rights is vital because another key part of OSC’s mandate is supporting the federal workforce’s right to speak out on policy matters.”
