**POLITICAL ACTIVITY UNDER THE \"HATCH ACT\"**

Hatch Act amendments went into effect on February 4, 1994. These
amendments establish general provisions for all federal employees and
three separate sets of more specific rules for:

**"PAS officials" (least restricted category) -** PAS officials are
Presidential appointees appointed by the President with the advice and
consent of the Senate. This category includes the Secretary, Deputy
Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, Solicitor, Special Trustee for
American Indians and most Heads of Bureaus.[^1] These employees
generally are allowed to participate in political activity during duty
hours, or while in government buildings, subject to specified
restrictions.

**"Non-PAS employees" -** This category includes the vast majority of
employees, including Schedule C, non-career SES, and all employees who
are neither PAS officials nor included in the third category. This
category includes full-time, part-time, temporary, and special
government employees. Subject to some restrictions, these employees may
participate in partisan political activities only when not on official
duty and outside of government offices.

**Career SES members, Administrative Law Judges and members of the Board
of Contract Appeals (most restricted category) -** Because of the unique
characteristics of these positions, this category carries the greatest
restrictions on the kinds of political activities in which employees and
officials may participate while off-duty and away from government
offices. Unlike other employees and officials, employees in this
category may not engage in active political campaigning or political
management while off-duty and away from government offices.

**Summary of Rules Governing Political Activity Under the Hatch Act**

This summary outlines some of the basic rules governing political
activity.

**I. Definition of Political Activity**

**Political activity is defined as activity directed toward the success
or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political
office, or a partisan political group. 5 C.F.R. § 734.101.**

**II. Basic Restrictions on Political Activity**

No government funds may be expended in connection with political
activity. Government offices may not be used to house day-to-day
operations of a campaign. No campaign-related printed communication can
bear official letterhead, the Great Seal, or terms such as \"official
business,\" nor may it be mailed in a franked envelope. Government
publications may not contain any endorsements or advertisements.

Political organizations must reimburse the government for the cost of
permissible political activity (such as that undertaken by PAS
officials[^2]). The OSC has advised that political organizations need
not reimburse for isolated, minor, incidental costs that the government
would have incurred regardless of whether the activity was political,
such as the cost of electricity or heat for the building, or the cost of
each e-mail or local phone call or fax. A rule of thumb to apply here is
to liken it to the Department's policy on limited personal use of
government equipment and telephones (June 14, 2000). (This policy is
available on the Ethics Office web page at
[[http://www.doi.gov/ethics]{.underline}](http://www.doi.gov/ethics).)).
This *de minimis* rule assumes that there is no pattern of use of
government resources on a recurring, non-incidental basis, and that the
use is not part of a generally reimbursable event, such as mixed
official and political travel by a PAS official, as such use would
require reimbursement (See Section VI. below).

Political organizations may not reimburse the government for use of
on-duty non-PAS employee's time. Employees who may actively engage in
political activity during off-duty hours may be paid by a campaign or
political committee for such off-duty work, subject to other applicable
restrictions.[^3]

**III. Permissible Political Activities by PAS Officials**

If the following activities are undertaken, subject to reimbursement for
any expenditure of government funds, PAS officials **MAY:**

-   Take an active part in or manage a political campaign:

-   While on official duty;

-   In a room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties;
    or

-   While wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the
    individual\'s office or position.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Attend and speak at political fundraisers but **may not** solicit
    contributions, funds or services.

-   Publicly endorse candidates in their official capacity.

-   Travel to campaign and political events.

> Use of Government Cars: Under the Hatch Act, PAS officials may engage
> in political activity using a vehicle owned or leased by the Federal
> government. **Under Departmental policy, however, only the Secretary
> may use a government vehicle while engaged in political activity,
> subject to reimbursement by the political sponsor.**

**IV. Political Activities by Employees Other Than PAS Officials**

For purposes of the restrictions on political activity, there are two
categories of employees other than PAS officials:

-   "Non-PAS employees," which includes Schedule C, non-career SES, and
    all other employees except PAS, career SES members, administrative
    law judges, and members of the Interior Board of Contract Appeals.

-   Career SES members, Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and members of
    the Board of Contract Appeals.

    -   Subject to some restrictions, non-PAS employees may participate
        in partisan political activities only when outside of official
        duty status and government offices. Career SES employees, ALJs,
        and members of the Board of Contract Appeals have additional
        restrictions on the political activities in which they may
        engage while off-duty and away from government offices. ***Refer
        to the attached charts for a specific list of permissible and
        prohibited political activities for these categories.***

**V. Interaction Between PAS Officials and Other Employees and
Officials**

PAS officials may undertake certain political activities while on duty;
however, there are a number of restrictions regarding interactions with
all other employees, who may not participate in political activity while
on duty.

> ***NOTE:*** Reference in this section (Section V only) to non-PAS
> officials ***includes*** career SES, ALJs, and members of the Board of
> Contract Appeals.

-   PAS officials should not invite non-PAS employees to attend a
    political event unless the event takes place before or after duty
    hours or on lunch break.

-   PAS officials may not ask non-PAS assistants or other staff to make
    calls and set up appointments related to campaign activity. Only PAS
    officials may be involved in political activity while on official
    duty time.

-   ***Limited qualification:*** A scheduler and other employees whose
    official duties so require may perform minimal routine
    administrative tasks related to a senior official\'s travel. Such
    tasks might include scheduling meetings, answering questions about
    an official's availability, or assuring that the official's
    activities are consistent with Hatch Act requirements. Any direct
    assistance to a political committee regarding setting up or
    organizing an event itself -- or other tasks that are "purely
    political" in nature or relate solely to the senior official's
    political activities -- must be performed during off-duty hours and
    with equipment that does not belong to the Government.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Consistent with the qualification described above, employees whose
    official duty requires travel with PAS officials must be off-duty in
    order to attend a political event unless the employee is performing
    official Governmental duties while at the event.

-   PAS officials may not ask non-PAS employees to prepare reports or
    other materials for a political event. However, the PAS official may
    make use of such reports or other materials that were prepared in
    the ordinary course of business.

-   A speech writer may write political speeches during lunch hour or
    other off-duty hours. Speeches originally written for official
    business purposes may be used for political purposes, but such
    speeches should not be modified for political use during duty hours.
    In any case no writing or modification of such speeches may be done
    on Government equipment.

**VI. Travel Expenses**

> A. **Non-PAS employees:** Because non-PAS employees may not engage in
> political activity during official duty hours, they may not use
> appropriated funds to pay for any political activity, and must avoid
> subsidizing political activity. Therefore, it is important to
> coordinate carefully any political activities in which a non-PAS
> intends to participate while on official travel. Further, Departmental
> policy requires that all non-career SES and Schedule C employees must
> provide the Chief of Staff with written justification and obtain
> approval in advance for any political activity conducted on their own
> time while on official travel. In making their travel plans and
> submitting their requests for approval, non-career SES and Schedule C
> employees should consider the approval criteria below:
>
> B. **PAS employees:** Although PAS employees may participate in
> political activity during duty hours, appropriated funds may not be
> used to pay for the political activity (except for isolated *de
> minimis* expenses, as discussed above). Therefore, the costs relating
> to the portion of a PAS's official travel that will be devoted to
> political activity must be paid by a candidate\'s campaign committee
> or by the party. In accordance with applicable White House guidance
> and 5 C.F.R. § 734.503, mixed official/political travel for PAS
> employees must be allocated on a \"hard-event time\" basis; i.e., the
> total activity time is calculated by adding time spent on official
> activity to time spent on political activity. The allocation of costs
> is made by applying to the total cost, the percentage of time
> allocated respectively to political and official activity. (**NOTE:**
> Expenses for travel related to the Presidential campaign is covered by
> a different formula. Contact the Solicitor's Office regarding any such
> travel.)
>
> The following methods of paying for political travel on a mixed
> official/political trip may be used:

-   The PAS official may pay the entire costs out of personal funds and
    be reimbursed by the appropriate entities. The PAS official may not
    use his or her government credit card, as certain expenses are
    charged directly to the card holder's appropriated funds account.

-   The PAS official may estimate in advance the potential allocation of
    official and political time and receive a travel advance from the
    government for the official share of expenses. The travel advance
    would be used to defray the official portion and the political
    committee would pay its share of expenses by check or credit card to
    the vendor.

-   The political committee may pay the costs of the trip and receive
    reimbursement from the government for the official share of the
    trip.

-   The political committee may pay the government in advance for the
    political share of the trip and the agency makes the necessary
    arrangements. Only when severe time constraints prevent advance
    reimbursement, as determined in advance by the Solicitor's Office,
    may the agency seek reimbursement after the trip.

> If an individual pays political travel expenses personally and intends
> to be reimbursed by the political organization, Federal Election
> Commission rules require that the request for reimbursement be
> submitted promptly and be received from the political committee within
> 60 days of the date on which they were incurred if the expenses were
> charged to a credit card and within 30 days if paid by any other
> method such as a check. These time guidelines are being strictly
> enforced. Employees should not assume that the political committee
> will promptly reimburse without follow-up from the employee. Expenses
> not reimbursed within the time limits count towards the dollar limits
> for contributions.
>
> C. **PAS and non-PAS employees:** If the travel is on behalf of a
> candidate for state or local office, state or local laws applying to
> political contributions or other political activity may apply and
> should be checked.

**VII. Prohibition on Political Financial Contributions**

-   All employees are permitted to contribute money to political
    candidates and campaigns

-   Except for members of federal labor unions as described below,
    non-PAS employees are prohibited from soliciting, accepting, or
    receiving any political contributions.

-   Employees are prohibited from soliciting, accepting, or receiving
    volunteer services from subordinates for political activities.

-   Employees who are members of federal labor organizations may
    solicit, accept and receive contributions from any non-subordinate
    employee who is a member of the same labor organization if the
    contribution is to the labor organization\'s multi-candidate
    committee.

-   No one may solicit, pay, or receive contributions in any federal
    office or building.

**VIII. Miscellaneous Policy Highlights**

-   Departmental policy prohibits the granting of leave without pay for
    political activity.

-   White House policy prohibits employees, other than the Secretary of
    the Interior, from using a government vehicle while engaging in
    political activities.

-   Non-PAS employees may work and be paid for partisan campaign work
    conducted during non-duty hours, subject to the applicable income
    limits discussed in Footnote 3.

-   The Secretary's Chief of Staff must approve all instances where non-
    career SES or Schedule C employees will be on official travel and
    expect to participate in political activity on their off-duty hours.

**EXAMPLES**

**1. An Assistant Secretary plans a meeting in his office to discuss his
potential campaign for the U.S. Senate. At the meeting, someone suggests
using the Interior auditorium for a big fundraiser. The Assistant
Secretary agrees:**

-   Is the meeting in his office okay? Yes, provided those in attendance
    are all PAS employees or not federal employees.

-   What about the event in the auditorium? No, the Interior auditorium
    may not be used for a fundraiser. The Assistant Secretary\'s
    campaign will have to pay for use of the auditorium if it is used
    for other campaign purposes.

-   May an Assistant Secretary ask a staff member to reserve the
    auditorium? No. He may not solicit the services of subordinates for
    political activity.

-   May the staff member do it? This is work the campaign committee
    should do; therefore, a staff member may not be involved unless the
    employee isoff-duty. An employee in the office that is responsible
    for scheduling the auditorium may do so.

-   What about the building manager \-- Can she be involved? Yes.
    Scheduling the auditorium is a standard part of the building
    manager\'s duties and she may schedule the auditorium for the
    Assistant Secretary\'s campaign in the same way she would handle the
    scheduling for any other organization.

-   May the Assistant Secretary fax an acceptance of an invitation to
    speak at a political fundraiser to the campaign committee using the
    government\'s fax machine? Yes. Although normally the committee must
    reimburse the government for permissible political activity, the fax
    may fall within the *de minimis* exception if it is a local call and
    is an isolated, non-recurring expense.

-   May the Assistant Secretary ask a staff member to fax an acceptance
    of an invitation to speak at a political fundraiser to the campaign
    committee using the government\'s fax machine? Yes, if the staff
    member\'s normal duties include scheduling for the Assistant
    Secretary. Although normally the committee must reimburse the
    government for permissible political activity, the fax may fall
    within the *de minimis* exception if it is a local call and is an
    isolated, non-recurring expense.

-   Once the Assistant Secretary decides to run for the nomination or is
    made a candidate, whichever comes first, he must resign his post.

**2. The Secretary, a Bureau Director (both PAS) and a staff member
(non-career SES) are all on official travel. During the day they tour
and attend meetings regarding operations at a Bureau site. At the end of
the day all are invited to attend a fundraising dinner for a member of
Congress running for re-election:**

-   May they attend the dinner? Yes. The Secretary and the Bureau
    Director may attend in their official capacity. However, the staff
    member may only attend in her personal capacity on her off-duty
    hours. Also, since they are all on official travel, the staff member
    must have written justification and prior authorization to mix
    official travel with political activities and may not be in an
    official uniform. When on travel, duty hours are calculated the same
    way that duty time is calculated when at one\'s official duty
    station.

-   Can they go to the dinner in a government vehicle? The Secretary may
    use a government vehicle only under certain circumstances. Provided
    those circumstances are met, the Secretary may invite the Director
    and staff member to go along if there is space available. The
    campaign must pay the government in advance for the costs associated
    with using the vehicle for the Secretary.

-   During the evening, the Congresswoman running for re-election learns
    that the Secretary and the staff member will be in Denver the next
    day and she asks the Secretary if she would attend a fundraiser in
    Denver the next evening. The Secretary asks the staff member to call
    ahead to change the Secretary\'s official schedule in order to
    accommodate the request. May the staff member make the call? Yes,
    but only to rearrange the schedule, because this is a minimal
    routine administrative task.

**3.** **During a staff meeting, a senior administration official (PAS)
tasks his special assistant to call a government contractor. The purpose
of the call is to advise the contractor that the campaign committee for
a local partisan candidate will be issuing an invitation to a
fundraising event. Is this permissible since neither the senior
administration official nor the special assistant will be asking for
donations directly?**

> All Federal employees are prohibited from soliciting contributions
> directly or indirectly for partisan political candidates. Further, any
> activities that would lead a contractor to believe that Federal
> benefits would be promised or denied based on political contributions
> is not permissible. The request by the PAS employee to the special
> assistant would be an improper solicitation of services. Also, while
> the PAS may engage in certain political activities during work hours
> and in the office, the special assistant and most other Federal
> employees are prohibited from engaging in political activity during
> duty hours and/or while at the office.

**4.** **A senior administration official (PAS) is asked to make a
speech at a fundraiser for a local partisan candidate while visiting
Louisiana in her official capacity. May she speak at the fundraiser? Who
pays for her travel?**

> Yes, she may speak at the fundraiser in her official capacity. In her
> speech she may thank the audience for attending and touch on such
> topics as furtherance of the programs/policies of the Administration
> and endorsement of the candidate. She may not however, directly or
> indirectly solicit contributions on behalf of the candidate at any
> event. Whenever official and political travel are combined for a PAS
> official, the cost of the trip must be prorated between the sponsors
> of the event and the government.

**5.** **An Assistant Secretary (PAS) and a senior political appointee
(non-career SES) are invited to attend an all-day campaign planning
meeting. May they attend?**

> Both may attend. However, the senior political appointee must take
> annual leave if the meeting occurs at a time that he would otherwise
> be on duty. PAS employees are on duty 24 hours a day and thus are
> excepted from the rule against political activity during working
> hours. If this situation were to occur while both are on official
> travel status, the senior political appointee must still use his own
> time and, in addition, he must have written justification and prior
> authorization to attend.

**6.** **A Bureau Director (PAS) has set up meetings related to
advancing the partisan goals of her party. The meetings will be held in
her office during working hours. There is so much to do to prepare that
she asks her special assistant (Schedule C) to assist. In turn the
Special Assistant asks the rest of the staff if they would be willing to
stay after work to finish the preparations. May they help out?**

> It is permissible for the Bureau Director to set up the meeting during
> office hours. It is not permissible for her to solicit a contribution
> of services from her special assistant, nor is it permissible for the
> special assistant to undertake any political activities during
> official duty hours or in government facilities. Further, it is
> improper for the special assistant to solicit a contribution of
> services from the rest of the staff. It is permissible for the Special
> Assistant and staff members to volunteer to help on their own time,
> away from the office.

**7.** **The wife of a Schedule C employee has decided to run for
Congress and wishes to hold a fundraiser in her home. May the Schedule C
employee participate in the fundraiser? Sign or endorse the invitation?
Make speeches during the fundraiser? Collect money?**

> The Schedule C employee may actively campaign for his wife away from
> his government office and while not on duty. He may distribute
> literature, stuff envelopes, attend fundraisers, and make speeches
> encouraging people to vote for his wife. His wife may have a
> fundraiser in the family\'s home and the employee may attend. However,
> the Schedule C employee may not sign the invitation to the fundraiser
> and may not solicit donations either in speeches, conversation, or in
> written form. If, while attending a fundraiser, a guest attempts to
> give a donation to him, he should refer the donor to his wife, her
> campaign treasurer or other campaign official.

**8.** **A partisan political candidate calls his friend, a Schedule C
employee in the Department, to request an appointment with a Bureau
Director and to discuss an upcoming campaign. May the employee take the
call?**

> If it is part of his official responsibilities to keep the Director\'s
> schedule, he may make the appointment. If not, he should refer the
> caller to the Director\'s appointments secretary. In no case should he
> discuss the campaign at the office. He should tell her that he is
> unable to discuss the campaign during office hours, but he may call
> back from home later that evening.

**9.** **Several Schedule C employees have been approached by a
candidate from their State and invited to be \"extras\" in her upcoming
campaign video. Some have even been asked to give \"citizen
testimonials\" in the video.** **May they do so?**

> Yes. As long as they do not use their official positions, they do not
> solicit contributions, it is not during duty hours, on government
> premises, wearing a government uniform, or in a government vehicle,
> they may participate in the video and other voter identification/
> outreach activities. They may sign \"citizen testimonials,\" in their
> private capacity, that will be published in the newspaper, provided
> the newspaper text does not solicit contributions. Further, the
> employees may be actively involved in passing out flyers, making cold
> calls, canvassing neighborhoods, holding voter registration drives,
> driving voters to the polls, and other similar activities.

[^1]: ^?^ The Director of the Minerals Management Service is not
    appointed by the President. Although the Inspector General is a PAS
    official, the position is excluded from this category by law and
    therefore is subject to the same restrictions on political activity
    during official duty hours as non-PAS employees. [See]{.underline} 5
    U.S.C. App. § 3(c); 5 C.F.R. § 734.502.

[^2]: ^?^ PAS officials are those who are appointed by the President
    with the advice and consent of the Senate.

[^3]: ^?^Under provisions in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, non-career
    SES employees and certain other highly-paid non-career employees may
    not have outside earned income in any given calendar year that
    exceeds 15% of the salary for Executive Level II. Additionally, PAS
    officials shall not receive any outside earned income for outside
    employment or any other outside activity performed during the
    Presidential appointment under which they serve. [See]{.underline} 5
    C.F.R. § 2635.804; 5 C.F.R. Part 2636.