Tag

#Hatch Act

The federal law restricting political activity by government employees, preventing the use of public office for partisan purposes. Incidents involve Hatch Act violations by officials using government resources or authority for political ends.

2 incidents

Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

White House Airs Taxpayer-Funded Pro-Trump TV Ads on Fox News and Newsmax Ahead of the Midterms (September 2026)

Six weeks before the midterm elections, the White House used public money to air a campaign-style ad glorifying the president on Fox News and Newsmax. It called the spot a patriotic public service announcement. Democrats asked federal watchdogs to investigate whether it breaks the long-standing ban on spending appropriated funds on 'publicity or propaganda' and the Hatch Act. No watchdog finding had been issued as of this entry's last update.

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

DOGE Employees Matched Social Security Data with Voter Rolls to Pursue Voter Fraud Claims

DOGE employees at SSA secretly worked with a political advocacy group to match Social Security data with voter rolls to find 'evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results.' A signed data-sharing agreement and Hatch Act referrals followed. A whistleblower alleged DOGE copied 300+ million Americans' records into an unsecured virtual database.