IEC Journal

OCS: Call for Global Warming Protests Not Hatch Act Violation

FOXNews quotes OSC's response to calls to discipline a NASA scientist who called for public protests over global warming:

Officials at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which investigates possible Hatch Act violations, disagreed, saying Hansen is in the clear since it's an "issue-oriented activity," according to Hatch Unit attorney Erica Stern Hamrick. The majority of federal government employees are allowed to take an active part in political activities, while workers at other departments like the FBI, Secret Service and National Security Council are subject to more restrictions on their political activities.

More On Political Influence at DOJ

An Associated Press story discusses a new Department of Justice report that criticizes one particular official for politicizing that agency:

The investigation, conducted [by the Inspector General] with the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, found that Schlozman did not tell the truth to Congress when he told Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in a June 2007 hearing that he did not consider political affiliations in hiring.

Citing the "troubling conduct" described in the report, Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said the agency has since reformed its hiring practices. "We are confident that the institutional problems identified in today's report no longer exist and will not recur," Carr said.

Qualifying the Latest Hatch Act Interpretation

Via Mark Stone, here are a couple of useful observations from Paul Davison about the OSC's recent Hatch Act interpretation previously reported here:

1.  This does not affect the Agency’s authority to prevent situations which may be disruptive in the workplace, even if wearing or displaying a particular item doesn’t violate the Hatch Act.
 
2.  If an item which displays a picture of Senators Obama or McCain (or otherwise indicates support of them) also references a political party, such as the Democrats or Republicans,  wear of that item still violates the Hatch Act.  It is always a violation to wear or display an item supporting or opposing a political party.

OSC Clarifies Post-Election Display Opinion

An IEC member alerted us to an OSC clarification of their post-election display opinion reported here on November 16. The key new ideas are that it will again be inappropriate to wear Obama items if and when he becomes a candidate for re-election, and that it is inappropriate to wear political party items at any time.

Thanks for the tip. We depend on our members to suggest topics, and we appreciate your support.

OSC Approves Post-Election Displays of Partisan Material

An Office of Special Counsel advisory opinion approves the post-election display of partisan material:

Even though Senators McCain and Obama will still be Presidential candidates until January 6, 2009, we do not believe that wearing their campaign t-shirts or displaying their pictures after Election Day is activity directed at the success of their candidacies.  Accordingly, the Hatch Act does not prohibit a federal employee from doing so, even while on duty or in the federal workplace.

In his Washington Post Federal Diary column, Joe Davidson noted the apparent incongruity of the OSC''s opinion emphasis on the fact that the election is not over until January 6.

Some Political Activity Compatible With Hatch Act

Joe Davidson's Federal Diary column looks at federal workers who are active in politics, within the scope of activities allowed by the Hatch Act.

Hatch Act Complaints Rise

The Washington Post's Federal Diary discusses the increase in complaints about Hatch Act violations.

Timely Hatch Act Reminder

Mark Stone, Chief, Government Ethics Law, HQ AFMC/JAA, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, recently arranged to have a Hatch Act reminder appear on the screen of every computer at Wright-Patterson AFB each time the computer starts up. With Mark's permission, here is the slide show and a plain text version of the message. You may need to update your PowerPoint software to view the latter:

Download political_activity_for_wpafb_popups.pptx

Download slide_on_political_activity_for_wpafb_screensavers_30_sep_08.ppt (Plain text).

Time For Hatch Act Reminder?

With a very close race expected in this fall's Presidential election, numerous observers are predicting record high turnouts. A pamphlet from the Office of Special Counsel web site entitled Political Activity and the Federal Employee is a good resource for educating employees about the dangers of inappropriate political activity.

We do have one suggestion: While the desire to keep everyone out of trouble is understandable, try to avoid inadvertently giving the impression that any political activity by a federal employee is risky and should be avoided. This is inaccurate, and does a disservice to our employees and our democracy. The OSC pamphlet referenced above does an excellent job of putting allowed and prohibited activities in perspective.

Gov Exec Reviews Hatch Act, OSC

Government Executive magazine has an interesting overview (here & here) of the Hatch Act and the Office of Special Counsel, including many links to related articles.

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