White House aide accused of violating Hatch Act with social media posts – Washington Examiner
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has accused Neera Tanden, the White House domestic policy chief, of violating the Hatch Act through her social media activity. The complaint cites seven instances where Tanden allegedly used her official position to endorse Democratic candidates, including promoting Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, via her posts on X (formerly Twitter). One notable post encouraged financial contributions to specific House candidates, which led OSC attorneys to warn Tanden about the violation. Despite deleting a problematic post, she continued to make additional posts that breached the Hatch Act, prompting OSC to formally file a complaint against her. The White House, represented by senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, stated that they are taking the matter seriously and are currently reviewing the complaint.
White House aide accused of violating Hatch Act with social media posts
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) accused White House domestic policy chief Neera Tanden of using her official capacity to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris — a violation of the Hatch Act.
OSC brought a formal complaint against Tanden on Wednesday citing seven instances in which Tanden promoted Democratic candidates in key House and Senate races as well as Harris’s campaign on her X account.
Tanden reposted a tweet on Aug. 28 which read “the absolute best thing you can do to prevent a MAGA sweep is to contribute to the campaigns of frontline House candidates. These four are a good place to start.”
The post also included the names of four candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. The OSC’s attorneys warned the White House that Tandem’s post was in violation of the law, prompting her to delete a post from August.
But a week later, Tandem made another post that was found to be in violation of the Hatch Act. She made a total of four posts in violation of the Hatch Act following the Aug. 30 warning.
“Tanden knowingly solicited political contributions by posting or reposting requests for financial contributions to the campaigns of candidates for partisan political office,” OSC said in the complaint.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told the Hill that the White House is currently reviewing the complaint.
“The White House and Ms. Tanden take compliance with the Hatch Act seriously. As soon as these retweets — which primarily consisted of non-fundraising content — were brought her to attention, she appropriately deleted them,” Bates said. “However, as recently as November 2021, the Office of Special Counsel stated that there are ‘significant constitutional concerns’ with the MSPB disciplining White House commissioned officers, and that it was ‘legally required’ to refer such matters to the President.”
While some senior White House employees, including Tandem, are exempt from some of the Hatch Act’s prohibitions, all employees are prohibited from fundraising or soliciting political contributions for politicial parties or candidates. Six of Tanden’s posts linked to a candidate’s donation page or called viewers to donate.
Last December, OSC found press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Bates in violation of the Hatch Act.
During the Trump administration, the OSC found 13 officials violated the Hatch Act by campaigning for him as he ran for reelection in 2020.
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