May 1st Meeting

The IEC is pleased to announce that the speaker at our Thursday, May 1st meeting will be Ms. Ana Galindo-Marrone, Chief of the Hatch Act Unit, Office of Special Counsel, whose presentation will be entitled, “The Hatch Act - Hot Topics for the 2008 Presidential Election Season.”  Ms. Galindo-Marrone, who began her employment at OSC in 1998, has headed the Hatch Act Unit since 2000. The Unit issues advisory opinions to federal, state and local officials nationwide and investigates and litigates Hatch Act cases.

The Hatch Act, of course, governs the political activity of executive branch employees of the federal government.  Employees covered by the Act are subject to certain protections and restrictions with respect to their political activity.  While it is always important for federal employees to know and understand their rights and responsibilities under the Act, it is particularly significant this year as the Presidential election season goes in to full swing, and employees become more politically active.  Ms. Galindo-Marrone’s presentation will discuss in detail the prohibited and permitted activities under the Hatch Act with special attention to the novel issues and trends in activity that OSC has seen during this and the last few election cycles.  For example, among other things, she will address the Hatch Act’s application to federal employees who are blogging, joining candidates’ websites, belonging to internet-based social networks, and/or emailing. 

Our May 1st meeting will take place from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS auditorium, 1700 G Street, N.W., the corner of 17th and G Streets.  Individuals who are on the IEC roster need not pre-register for this meeting.  Ethics officials who are not on our roster but who wish to attend our May meeting can pre-register by contacting Patrick Carney not later than Monday, April 28th. Those who are neither on the IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted to our meeting site by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personnel and signing in.