![]() ![]() 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. According to the OSC’s explanation of the rule, it applies to federal employees as well as state and local employees who work with federally funded programs. The law is supposed to stop the federal government from affecting elections or going about its activities in a partisan manner. The Office of Special Counsel – not to be confused with the Justice Department special counsel investigation led by Jack Smith into Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents – is a unique government body charged with enforcing a handful of rules, including the Hatch Act. Here’s more about how the Hatch Act works: Jean-Pierre has received a warning letter but will not face disciplinary action from the OSC. Jean‐Pierre’s references to ‘MAGA Republicans’ established that she made those references to generate opposition to Republican candidates,” according to a letter from the agency. The OSC “concluded that the timing, frequency, and content of Ms. ![]() The agency also said in 2021 that 13 senior Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act. The US Office of the Special Counsel, an independent agency tasked with enforcing the Hatch Act, found that President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain violated the law last year, as well as his former press secretary, Jen Psaki, in 2021. A federal agency said Tuesday that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated the Hatch Act when she used the term “mega MAGA” from the briefing podium.īut Jean-Pierre is far from the first person in a high-profile role to violate the law, which limits certain political activities of government workers.
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