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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Have some violations of the Hatch Act gone unpunished?

Thursday, April 8, 2021

By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez

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YES

The Hatch Act is a federal law intended to ensure that federal employees remain nonpartisan in their duties. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the agency that enforces the law’s provisions, notes that it restricts such activities as campaigning for a political candidate, participating in political fundraisers or advocating for a political candidate on social media.

In 2019, the agency received 281 new complaints under the law, issued 49 warning letters, and took 11 “corrective actions.” Thus about 20% of complaints resulted in some sort of punishment, according to the OSC.

Disciplining some high-level violators of the act is up to the president who appointed them. President Trump ignored the 2019 recommendation of the OSC (and a House oversight committee) that he fire Kellyanne Conway for violating the act “dozens of times” with partisan media statements and appearances.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Office of Special Counsel The Hatch Act

US Office of Special Counsel FY 2021 budget justification—Summary of Hatch Act activity, p. 38, Table 8

govinfo House of Representatives: Hatch Act Violations

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.