Opinion ID: 782264
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hatch Act and the Teacher Exception

Text: 2 The Hatch Act prohibits certain government employees from engaging in certain political activities. See generally 5 U.S.C. §§ 1501-08, 7321-26 (2000). The Act prohibits both federal and state/local employees from being partisan candidates for elected office. 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(3) ([A federal] employee may not ... run for the nomination or as a candidate for election to a partisan political office.); see also id. § 1502(a)(3) (A State or local officer or employee may not ... be a candidate for elective office.). Covered federal employees include any individual ... employed or holding office in ... the government of the District of Columbia, other than the Mayor or a member of the City Council or the Recorder of Deeds. Id. § 7322(1)(C). DCPS teachers fall under that definition. However, state and local public school teachers are exempted from the Hatch Act. Id. § 1501 (`A state or local officer or employee' ... does not include ... an individual employed by an educational or research institution, establishment, agency or system.). There is no similar exception for federal employees.
3 To better understand the Hatch Act in effect today, an understanding of its history is helpful. The Act was first enacted in 1939 out of concerns about the harmful effects of political activities by government workers. The 1939 Act affected only federal employees. A year later the Act was amended in two ways important to this case. First, coverage was extended to state and local employees. That extension was an exercise of Congress's spending power, as the law was limited to state and local employment in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by laws or grants made by the United States or any federal agency. 5 U.S.C. § 118k(a) (1958). Second, the 1940 amendments brought District of Columbia employees within the Act's coverage as federal employees. 4 In 1942 the Act was amended again, this time introducing a teacher exception, applicable to teachers in any state, locality, or the District of Columbia. Id. § 118k-1. Briggs cites numerous statements from the 1942 legislative history expressing strong support for the teacher exception. In 1966, the Act was recodified and bifurcated into the two separate chapters of Title 5 where the provisions appear today: §§ 1501-08 (applying to state and local employees) and §§ 7321-26 (applying to federal employees). The recodification did not materially change the law, at least as it pertains to the teacher exception, which was maintained in both new sections. In part, § 7324(c) at that time read: Subsection (a) of this subsection does not apply to an individual employed by an educational or research institution, establishment, agency, or system which is supported in whole or in part by the District of Columbia. 5 U.S.C. § 7324(c) (1970). 5 Starting in the mid-seventies, several attempts were made to relax the Act's prohibitions generally. Those attempts culminated in amendments that were enacted in 1993, which, most significantly, retracted the Act's prohibition against tak[ing] an active part in political management or in political campaigns. Compare id. § 7324(a)(2) with 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a) (2000). The 1993 amendments also removed the DC teacher exception that had been codified at § 7324(c). The rationale for its removal, as pointed out by Briggs and not contested by the government, is unexplained in the legislative history. 6