Did Ben Carson Violate the Law? A Brief Review of the Hatch Act

What’s the story?

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson appeared at President Trump’s Arizona campaign rally on Tuesday night, igniting a firestorm on social media about whether or not he violated the law, specifically the Hatch Act.

President Trump has launched his re-election campaign earlier than any presidential incumbent in history. The decision regarding Secretary Carson could affect who and how many of the president’s appointees can participate in his 2020 presidential bid.

What is the Hatch Act?

According to the Office of Special Counsel, the Hatch Act is designed to regulate federal employees' participation in political activities in order to serve the country in a bipartisan fashion:

"The Hatch Act, a federal law passed in 1939, limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. ​The law’s purposes are to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.​​​​”

There are large portions of the federal workforce that have limited restrictions on their participation in partisan political activities. Basically, they can participate in partisan political activities in their private lives, but they cannot engage in partisan political activity while they are on duty or using government resources (like vehicles), or use their power and influence to affect elections.

There are specific departments and agencies within the federal government that maintain stricter controls on employee participation in partisan political activities. They include judges, intelligence, national security and law enforcement, election officials, and employees of the Office of Special Counsel. Those employees may vote and attend political rallies and campaign events, but they may not give campaign speeches, circulate campaign literature or materials, hold party office or work to advance any party over another.

What about Ben Carson?

Ultimately, the Office of Special Counsel will decide if Secretary Carson was in violation of the Hatch Act. A 1993 amendment to the law specifically allows employees of the Executive Office of the president and Cabinet secretaries to engage in "political activity" involved in campaigns, except fundraising. But they may not do it in an official capacity; they can only do it as private citizens.

At issue in Secretary Carson’s case at the Phoenix rally is that he was introduced as HUD Secretary, not as a private citizen. When his predecessor, Obama’s HUD Secretary Julian Castro, mentioned in a tv interview during the 2016 presidential campaign that he supported Hillary Clinton he was ruled by the OSC to be in violation of the Hatch Act, even though he stated that "[I’m] taking off my HUD hat for a second and just speaking individually." The OSC stated that Castro "impermissibly mixed his personal political views with official government agency business."

Castro publicly acknowledged the error and the administration took steps to further educate employees throughout HUD about Hatch Act restrictions. There were no further violations by Castro during his tenure as HUD Secretary.

What do you think?

Was Secretary Carson in violation of the Hatch Act? If so, what should be done to remedy the situation? If not, why not?

Tell us in the comments what you think and then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)