Opinion ID: 782264
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Present Statutory Provisions

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.