What Is The Hatch Act? Biden Chief Of Staff Warned Against Campaigning

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was warned about violating a law that prohibits federal employees from using their official positions to impact elections after he retweeted a political message on his official government account.

Klain received a warning letter for violating the Hatch Law, according to a memo from the Office of Special Counsel, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. The office specializes in investigating violations made against the Hatch Act among other federal statutes.

The warning sent to Klain came in reference to a message he retweeted on May 22 about delivering baby formulas at a time when shortages in formulas were reported.

The message, posted by a Democratic group called STRIKE PAC, called for the purchase of Democratic-promoted products, "Get your Democrats Deliver Merch today!"

Meanwhile, America First Legal, a conservative legal group run by former White House aide Stephen Miller, sent a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel on June 1, asking the office to look into Klain's retweeted message.

The group asked the office in its letter to "investigate whether White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain violated the Hatch Act by using his official '@WHCOS' Twitter account to retweet partisan political material, including a solicitation for political contributions."

However, Klain immediately removed the retweet once he knew of the complaint against him. No actions were taken against him and he was only warned to be more mindful in the future.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that violations by the Biden administration "have been few," according to the AP.

"Ron is very careful and takes the Hatch Act very seriously in his media appearances and his use of Twitter, but he got it wrong this time," she said. "He fixed it as soon as it was pointed out and took the warning to be more careful seriously."

The same law was violated by a number of officials who worked with the Donald Trump administration in what the Office of Special Counsel called in 2021 a "willful disregard for the Hatch Act," according to the AP.

What is the Hatch Act?

A federal law passed in 1939, the Hatch Act aims to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan manner in an effort to protect federal employees from political "coercion" in the workplace, according to the Office of Special Counsel.

"[The law] limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs," the Act's description read.

The law also ensures that federal employees are not advanced based on political affiliation, but on merit instead. It is also used to address corruption and potential intimidation of federal employees by their elected superiors, according to the First Amendment Encyclopedia.

The Act also bans the use of federal funds for electoral purposes and prohibits federal officials from soliciting political support in exchange for public jobs or funds.

It was first introduced by Senator Carl Hatch after he learned that some government programs, especially the Works Progress Administration, used federal funds to back Democrats in the 1938 elections.

The Act was adjusted a year after it was passed to include state and local employees whose salaries included federal funds. The law was amended again in 1993 to allow most federal employees to actively participate in partisan political management and campaigns, according to the First Amendment Encyclopedia. The 1993 adjustment gave an opportunity for employees to be more expressive when sharing their opinions on political matters.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for media comment.