Evan Vucci / AP

There's Plenty of Precedent for Feds Facing Discipline and Removal for Hatch Act Violations

Trump says he will not fire Kellyanne Conway after White House calls OSC recommendation "unprecedented."

President Trump said on Friday he would not fire adviser Kellyanne Conway despite a recommendation from a federal watchdog agency that he do so.

The Office of Special Counsel called for Conway’s dismissal on Thursday, labeling her a “repeat offender” in violating the Hatch Act for expressing overtly political views from her official White House role. Noting that Trump has authority to discipline Conway, the report said, “OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service.”

Trump quickly rejected that recommendation in an interview with Fox News Friday.

“I’m not gonna fire her,” Trump told Fox and Friends. “I think she’s a terrific person. She’s a tremendous spokesperson.” The president added that he would not counsel Conway to alter her behavior: “It looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech.”

The White House had reacted to OSC's report containing the removal recommendation with an 11-page reply by Counsel Pat Cipollone, denying that Conway violated the Hatch Act and asking the independent watchdog agency for a retraction. Cipollone also asked OSC to turn over by June 21 numerous documents used to compile the report.

In an accompanying statement, Steven Groves, a White House spokesman, called OSC’s actions “unprecedented” and “deeply flawed.” In an interview with the Washington Post, OSC chief Henry Kerner—a Trump appointee—defended his agency.

“You know what else is unprecedented?” Kerner said. “Kellyanne Conway’s behavior.”  

Kerner told Government Executive that all federal employees are beholden to the Hatch Act, and he feels personally responsible for spreading that message. 

"If a senior official is permitted to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act, how can OSC justify arguing for the imposition of discipline for lower-level employees?" he said. "Fairness dictates that the law be applied consistently regardless of an employee’s rank or agency. It is my job is to make sure the federal workforce remains depoliticized and to uphold the rule of law.”

In its original report to the White House, OSC said that if Conway went unpunished it would “send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions.” The agency’s track record clearly demonstrates there is precedent for punishing, and even firing, employees guilty of engaging in political activity from an official capacity.

  • In 2018, OSC reached an agreement with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee who repeatedly told coworkers to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The employee agreed to resign and faced a five-year ban on federal service.
  • Also last year, OSC referred to the Merit Systems Protection Board a U.S. Postal Service employee for violating the Hatch Act by running for partisan elected office while serving in his federal position. The MSPB judge removed the employee.
  • OSC last year also reached a settlement to suspend without pay two USPS employees after they brought campaign posters for preferred political candidates into their office, announced their endorsements during a meeting and filmed themselves discussing politics inside their official postal vehicles, all despite warnings from a supervisor. One of the Ohio-based employees received a 30-day suspension and the other 60 days without pay.
  • In 2014, OSC reached a settlement agreement with a Federal Election Commission attorney who violated the Hatch Act by posting partisan political tweets and participating in a livestream event from his office in which he criticized the Republican party and candidates. The attorney agreed to resign.
  • Also that year, an OSC investigation led to a 40-day suspension for an Air Force employee who used a work email thread to send information in opposition to President Obama’s re-election.
  • OSC in 2016 reached an agreement for a 50-day unpaid suspension for a Commerce Department employee who while he was in his federal office assisted Republican political candidates in Maryland with fundraising.
  • Just last year, OSC reprimanded six White House officials for using Trump’s “make America great again” campaign slogan in official tweets. The agency determined the offending employees took corrective action by deleting the tweets and therefore did not recommend discipline. That followed a 2017 warning letter from OSC to White House Director of Social Media Dan Scavino after he launched a tweet-based attack on a Republican candidate running for reelection.
  • Also last year, OSC found a Federal Communications Commission member Michael O’Rielly in violation of the Hatch Act when, at an event in which he used his official title, O’Rielly advocated for Trump’s reelection and the election of other conservatives. OSC issued a warning letter and said future violations would result in disciplinary action.
  • The incident called to mind another high-profile Hatch Act violation when, in 2012, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the audience at an official event that it was “hugely important to make sure that we reelect the president.” OSC found her in violation of the Hatch Act, and Sebelius retroactively re-labeled the event political and reimbursed the government for the cost of her travel.

This story has been updated with additional comment from OSC

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.