The Basics: The Hatch Act

The Hatch Act is the 1939 law that regulates the political activities of federal employees and some state and local government workers. The legislation originally prohibited nearly all partisan activity by federal employees, banning them from endorsing candidates, distributing campaign literature, organizing political activities and holding posts in partisan organizations.

Those restrictions were loosened in the early 1990s after a battle that dated back to the 1984 presidential campaign, when a federal mediation board found that three union leaders violated the Hatch Act by expressing support for Democratic candidate Walter Mondale. A federal court overturned that opinion, but the incident sparked a campaign to change the law. Advocates for amending the act, including the AFL-CIO and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the original language violated federal employees' constitutional rights. Opponents such as the nonpartisan advocacy organization Common Cause said changing the rules would politicize the civil service. President George H.W. Bush agreed with the opponents, vetoing changes to the Hatch Act in 1990. But President Bill Clinton supported the modifications, and they became law in 1993.

Today, most career federal employees can run for nonpartisan offices, make financial contributions to political organizations, get involved in political groups, and campaign for candidates by making speeches, distributing literature and signing nominating positions. The remaining restrictions on federal employees' activities are tailored more narrowly to their jobs: they still are banned from using their authority to exert influence over an election; encouraging or discouraging political activity by anyone with business before their agency; doing political work while on duty, in uniform, in the office or in a government vehicle; running for partisan office; and wearing political buttons while on duty.

To learn more about the law, click here.