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Matthew May

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    Justice

    ​Hatch Act requires government employees to work for the public interest, not partisan campaigns

    Matthew May
    November 12, 2021
    Mike Pompeo standing in front of the Capitol

    According to a special counsel report, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is one 13 top officials in the Trump administration who violated the Hatch Act.

    Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

    May is a senior research associate at Boise State University.

    Thirteen top officials of the Trump administration violated the federal law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits political campaigning while employed by the federal government. That's the conclusion of a federal government report issued by the special counsel, Henry Kerner.

    The officials, including then-acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "chose to use their official authority not for the legitimate functions of the government, but to promote the reelection of President Trump in violation of the law."

    The Trump administration members were not the first federal employees to have crossed the line into prohibited political advocacy. Over the past few decades, government employees have been documented violating the Hatch Act in their offices, at meetings and in memos. And in a world awash in social media, it has become much easier for people to share their views about politics digitally.

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    Big Picture

    Trump plan to dismantle personnel agency would weaken safeguards against partisanship

    Matthew May
    August 02, 2019
    Trump plan to dismantle personnel agency would weaken safeguards against partisanship

    President Trump wants to abolish OPM, an action that some argue would inject partisanship into federal hiring practices.

    upload.wikimedia.org
    The Conversation

    May is a senior research associate at Boise State University.

    The U.S. government has put expertise and competence ahead of political considerations when it hires people for more than 135 years.

    As a result of changes made during President Chester Arthur's administration, the vast majority of government jobs can only be awarded on the basis of merit. Prospective employees historically had to complete a competitive exam and today must complete detailed applications, undergo interviews and get their background checked. Employees also cannot be fired or demoted for political reasons.

    These rules apply to all but about 4,000 politically appointed employees among the 2 million people who work for the federal government, not counting postal service workers. Those only require presidential support and, for around 1,200 of these jobs, Senate confirmation.

    The Trump administration is taking several steps that could remove safeguards against partisanship and nepotism in the federal workforce. Among other things, it is pushing to dissolve the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the administration of the civil service system. Democrats are objecting to this move.

    As a public administration researcher, I look at how political partisanship influences the relationship between government employees and elected officials.

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