![]() ![]() In its statement announcing Castro had violated the Hatch Act, the OSC noted he was there in his official capacity and had the department seal behind him. Obama-era Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro tried to avoid violating the law during a 2016 interview by saying he was taking off his “HUD hat for a second and just speaking individually,” before boosting Clinton. The OSC cited Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for political comments in 2012, and Sebelius said afterward that she regretted her comments but took issue with the degree of the OSC’s response. Likewise, two Obama administration Cabinet heads faced Hatch Act reprimands. In 2017, White House social media director Dan Scavino and then-US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley both received official warnings over tweets that the OSC said broke the rules. ![]() The 13 senior Trump officials who ran afoul of the Hatch Act were: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House adviser Stephen Miller, White House deputy press secretary Brian Morgenstern, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, White House communications director Alyssa Farah, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. Psaki got in trouble when she appeared to endorse Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Klain was found to have violated the Hatch Act after sending a retweet from his official Twitter account, which included a message to buy political merchandise for a Democratic group. In March 2018, the OSC, citing the Hatch Act, told employees to leave their “Make America Great Again” hats at home after Trump began officially running for reelection. While the debate over Comey’s actions and cases like Jean-Pierre’s receive the lion’s share of attention, the act is a routine boundary for rank-and-file government employees, who must follow specific protocols to keep political beliefs from being perceived to affect the performance of the government. His decision to update Congress on the status of the Hillary Clinton email investigation received widespread criticism, although Comey was not ultimately found in violation. Some federal entities, like the Justice Department, have their own guidelines around political speech that go beyond the broad outlines of the Hatch Act.Ĭomplaints are somewhat routine, and the debate over high-profile violations can be sharp, with interest groups and legal experts regularly weighing in and accusing government officials of violations.įormer FBI Director James Comey was at the center of a heated Hatch Act debate in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. ![]() The OSC has its own guidelines for those covered by the Hatch Act to avoid violations, and more recently it posted specific guidelines for social media. Responses can vary significantly after employees violate the rule, from a slap on the wrist to loss of a job. The rule is a workplace guideline, and violating it is not a crime. ![]()
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