HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain political activity, when she made “extemporaneous partisan remarks” during a speech in her official capacity earlier this year, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.
During a speech to the Human Rights Campaign Gala in North Carolina in February, Sebelius said North Carolina Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton “needs to be the next governor of North Carolina.” She also outlined the Obama administration’s accomplishments so far and said: “One of the imperatives is to make sure that we not only come together here in Charlotte to present the nomination to the president, but we make sure that in November he continues to be president for another four years.”
The Office of Special Counsel said she made the political remarks in her capacity as a federal employee and thus violated the Hatch Act. If Sebelius had made those remarks in her personal capacity, they would have been acceptable.
After that appearance, Sebelius had the event reclassified from official to political, and done in her personal capacity, in an attempt to avoid a Hatch Act violation. She and HHS also reimbursed the Treasury Department for all the costs associated with the trip. At least some of the cost was picked by the Democratic National Committee, according to the OSC.
But the OSC said the reclassification doesn’t mean the violation didn’t occur, particularly because the gala was advertised using Sebelius’s HHS title.
“OSC concluded that Secretary Sebelius violated the Hatch Act by making extemporaneous political remarks,” OSC Special Counsel Carolyn N. Lerner wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama. “As the upcoming elections approach, this report offers an opportunity to remind federal employees of the complex Hatch Act restrictions.”
Sebelius told the OSC that the endorsements of Obama and the government were unscripted and a “mistake.” OSC quoted her as saying that she “got a little caught up in the notion that the gains which had been made would clearly not continue without the president’s reelection.” Sebelius, in her response, said the ruling was “somewhat unfair” and the use of her title amounted to a “technical and minor” violation.
She said that OSC should have concluded that the violation was “corrected” when the event was reclassified as political. OSC said that by reimbursing the Treasury, she didn’t violate rules prohibiting government-funded political events, but it didn’t correct the prohibition on making political statements in an official role.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's comments violated Hatch Act, OSC concludes - Jennifer Haberkorn - POLITICO.com
here we go again
for the hoodlums and hooligans holed up in this white house, the law, like public education, is strictly for
other people
managers at the faa were accused of the exact same hatch violations just last week
the pentagon inspector general concluded, also last week, that the white house was in violation of MOVE, which requires field offices be established on overseas bases to facilitate our brave soldiers voting
president punt is also in open contravention of the sequester transparency act which he signed himself into law last month, requiring him to itemize exactly where these "devastating" military cuts must go down
labor secty solis on july 31 recommended that defense contractors NOT send pink slips to workers threatened by sequester, even tho the WARN act mandates 60 days notice
the gao came out the day before yesterday stating unequivocally that the white house "circumvented law" by stripping the work requirement out of welfare reform without running it thru congress as required by the constitution
the inspector general for fast and furious reported yesterday that the 3 scapegoats, newell, voth and hope mccalister, did NOT originate the untracked gunwalking out of phoenix, despite sworn testimony in congress by holder, napolitano and lanny breuer that they did
10 ice agents are suing ms napolitano personally and dhs departmentally, complaining that obama's catch and release policy forces them to go against the constitution
obama's work-amnesty for only certain categories of illegals is an extension of dream legislation voted DOWN by both houses
his recess appointments to nlrb are premised on the executive branch arbitrating when and when not the legislature is in session, an affront to separation of powers
david axelrod threatened gallup because he didn't like its numbers, eric holder sicced a law suit on the pollster
playing by the same set of rules, everyone?
