Hello, and welcome to another of several presentations about ethics.
I'm your host, Stuart Bender and this series is brought to you by the USDA Office of Ethics.
The most important thing for you to know -- as a USDA employee -- is that we here at the Office
of Ethics are always happy to answer your questions.
So feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Today we'll showcase the Hatch Act, and its restrictions on Federal Employees.
Federal employees fall within two categories under the Hatch Act: less restricted and further restricted.
Today, we'll cover the less restricted employees.
These include all of the GS-level employees which comprise the vast majority of the employees
who work at USDA.
In a future video, we will discuss the further restricted employees, which are generally
the career Senior Executives.
Let's start with a bit of history about the Hatch Act.
Originally passed as a federal law in 1939, then amended in 1993, the Hatch Act 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 Hatch Act was passed because some federal employees and managers were misusing their
positions to further the interests of political campaigns, including forcing federal employees
to go out and campaign on official time.
The law was passed to help career civil servants by creating and sustaining an environment
that is non-partisan and impartial.
The Hatch Act provides protection for civil servants by limiting the kinds of political
activity that are allowed in the workplace.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency in the executive branch, oversees the
implementation of the Hatch Act and investigates and prosecutes its offenders.
Let's now talk now about what's covered.
What behavior is the chief concern of the Hatch Act?
We're concerned with what's called partisan political activity.
That's defined as any activity that is directed toward the success or failure of a Political
party, a Candidate for partisan political office, or a Partisan political group.
In other words, the partisan nature of the activity is the problematic part.
Remember the purpose of the Hatch Act is to create a non-partisan career environment.
So what is a "non-partisan" activity?
There are two parts to this definition.
The first is any activity that is NOT associated with a political candidate or a party.
One example would be an election where none of the candidates are representing any political
parties.
This means that none of the candidates are receiving the endorsement of any political
party, and are not using political party resources, or identifying themselves with a political
party.
Examples of these non-partisan elections are for school boards' where people run for office
as individuals.
The second, would be a purely issue oriented campaign.
An issue oriented campaign is one that is related to a specific issue rather than to
a candidate or party.
An example would be a ballot initiative to raise the legal drinking age.
For partisan political elections, all Federal employees are absolutely banned from running
as a nominee or candidate in any partisan election, including if you are just testing
the waters.
There is also a strict and complete ban on fundraising at any time or any place, even
away from your workplace.
You may not, for example, send emails with links to fundraising websites.
Also, your name cannot appear on a list for a fundraising invitation.
You also cannot host a fundraising event.
Now, let's discuss what the restrictions are for the federal workplace.
You cannot send political emails while on duty, on federal property or through your
federally issued computer using your .gov email address.
Also, you may not use other federal employees to conduct these activities.
However, if you are a "Less Restricted Employee" you can send these kinds of emails on your
own time, off the clock, off federal property, and on your own computer or smart phone devices,
using your personal email address.
And, - in all cases, you must NOT have fundraising language in ANY emails.
This can be tricky.
The government issues federal phones, iPads, and other devices to its employees for work.
USDA also has several social media accounts.
None of these official resources may be used to help or hinder a partisan political campaign.
Also, they may never be used for political fundraising.
What about showing your support in other ways?
There is something we call the "Active Campaign"
rule that holds here.
If there is an active partisan campaign, you may not wear buttons supporting that campaign,
have posters in your office, pictures of an active candidate in your office, or other
campaign items.
We often receive questions about bumper stickers on vehicles.
It's very clear that there can NEVER be any political bumper stickers on any government owned vehicles ever.
On your personal vehicles, if you drive your car and park at work, you may have up to two
bumper stickers supporting partisan candidates.
The Office of Special Counsel has stated that having more than two total bumper stickers
on a car raises concerns.
A more pressing concern is the situation where you are using your personal automobile to
conduct government work.
If, for example, you use your personal vehicle for official travel, or during the course
of your workday to perform site visits, meet with farmers, or other local travel, you will
need to cover up or remove those partisan campaign bumper stickers.
As you move up the chain of command, your actions as they pertain to the Hatch Act become
more scrutinized.
Supervisors, managers, team leads must all be very cautious when discussing political
campaigns at work.
You must not misuse your official position to discourage your subordinates from supporting
the political candidate of their own choosing.
This includes USDA program participants, contractors, grantees, and others.
It especially includes those people being investigated, audited, or subject to enforcement
actions by the Department of Agriculture.
Why all of this scrutiny?
It's because we need to avoid the appearance that people will get some sort of favoritism from you
by supporting the partisan political candidates that you support.
As a public servant, your authority can only be used to further the interests of the public.
Your authority does not exist to further the interests of a partisan political campaign.
Thanks for joining us in this introduction to the Hatch Act rules.
Don't forget that the Ethics Office is always here to answer your specific questions about
this old and enduring law.
Our goal is to make complying with the Hatch Act easy for you.
And be sure to watch for new presentations about this important law that will be coming out
in the future.
In the meantime, have a great and productive day.