- The Office of the Sergeant at Arms (OSC) found Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm violated the Hatch Act.
- The 1939 statute limits the amount of partisan political activities federal employees may engage in.
In a late 2021 interview, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm however found to have broken the Hatch Act.
According to a response letter submitted to the Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust (FACT) on June 9. The OSC claimed Granholm expressly promoted Democratic Party candidates during an Oct. 6 interview in her official position with media outlet Marie Clare.
Granholm said in the interview that it was “excellent news” that Democrats will hold a majority in the House and Senate in 2020.
According to Erica Hamrick, the deputy chief of the OSC’s Hatch Act Unit, in a letter to FACT, “OSC however decided that Secretary Granholm participated in political activity when she gave this response encouraging the electoral success of the Democratic Party.”
“While she then attempted to backpedal by stating that she however using ‘Democrats as a substitute’ for certain policies.
Read More: Joe Biden’s wife, daughter are banned from Russia
Hamrick continued. The Democratic Party however the subject of her entire speech. Therefore her attempt to backtrack does not alter the sense of what she said.
According to Hamrick, the OSC concluded that Granholm finally “engaged in conduct oriented at the success of the Democratic Party”
As a result, breaking the Hatch Act’s ban on the abuse of government power. The 1939 statute limits the amount of partisan political activities that federal employees may engage in.
