Federal Agency Accuses White House Official of Violating Hatch Act

Neera Tanden testifies at a Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 10, 2021. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

A federal investigative agency is requesting disciplinary action for Neera Tanden, who serves as one of President Joe Biden’s domestic policy advisors, over her allegedly violating a law that prohibits solicitations for partisan political candidates.

The agency, known as the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), announced the complaint on Nov. 7 while highlighting recent posts Tanden made on the social media platform X. According to the agency’s complaint, Tanden violated the Hatch Act by posting or reposting solicitations for donations to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, as well as multiple Democratic congressional candidates.

“Congress created a rule banning all federal employees from fundraising for political candidates,“ Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger said. “The Hatch Act contains no escape hatch for White House officials.”

The White House did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publishing time. According to Politico, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Tanden took “compliance with the Hatch Act seriously.”

Tanden served as White House staff secretary before Biden promoted her last year to be one of his domestic policy advisors. Biden had nominated her to lead his Office of Management and Budget, but she backed out amid scrutiny over other social media posts.

In its Nov. 6 complaint, the special counsel office said it notified the White House Counsel’s Office on Aug. 30 that Tanden was in violation of the Hatch Act after her post two days prior promoting four candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tanden eventually removed that post on Sept. 3 but two days later reposted a video of actor Michael Keaton asking for funds to support Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in his campaign for reelection, the complaint said. In September, subsequent posts from Tanden promoted solicitations for Democrat Lucas Kunce, who was running to unseat Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.); Democratic House candidate Rebecca Cooke of Wisconsin; and Democratic House candidate Will Rollins of California.

“Each of Tanden’s three subsequent posts ... was also made after Tanden was notified that making such posts violated the Hatch Act prohibition against soliciting political contributions,” the OSC’s complaint read.

The OSC’s complaint requested that the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) penalize Tanden under a federal law that outlines removal, suspension, monetary fines, or “reprimand” as potential punishments.

Bates reportedly pointed to a 2021 report wherein the special counsel office raised constitutional concerns with the MSPB disciplining individuals directly appointed by the president. That report said that OSC “may not pursue disciplinary action through the MSPB” for commissioned officers, or those appointed by the president, and Senate-confirmed presidential appointees.

For both types of appointees, the OSC said it “must report its findings to the president” and allow the president to take appropriate action.

Reporting to the president was the course of action the OSC took in response to alleged Hatch Act violations by Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to then-President Donald Trump. In 2018, the agency said it concluded its investigation into Conway.

“Considering the president’s constitutional authority, the proper course of action, in the case of violations of the Hatch Act by such officers, is to refer the violations to the president,” its report to Trump said at the time.

The OSC pointed The Epoch Times to Dellinger’s op-ed this year stating that the OSC would no longer exempt officials like Tanden from referral to MSPB.

The OSC issued an advisory opinion in June stating that Congress only exempted presidential appointees who were confirmed by the Senate.

The OSC announced in September that it submitted a report to Biden over an alleged Hatch Act violation by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, who expressed support for Biden winning a second term.

The agency added that it reached settlement agreements entailing unpaid suspensions for an employee within the Department of Commerce and a U.S. attorney’s office.

“While OSC deals with some close calls in its Hatch Act enforcement, federal employees soliciting donations for a political campaign is express advocacy and a clear-cut violation,“ Dellinger said as part of the announcement. ”We urge federal employees not to cross these brightest of lines.”