Poll Reveals Contrasting Perceptions of Hatch Act Enforcement

As reported exclusively by Government Executive

The Hatch Act was signed into law in 1939 to ensure that federal programs and hiring practices remain non-partisan by preventing executive branch employees from participating in certain partisan activities. In the social media age, the Office of the Special Council has offered modernized guidance on Hatch Act adherence, however frequent public violations by White House personnel have recently tested the integrity of Hatch Act enforcement across the federal government. 

To understand how federal employees perceive that the Hatch Act is respected and employed, Government Business Council (GBC) polled a random sample of over 400 federal employees. While most federal employees responded that the Hatch Act was respected and enforced fairly in their organizations, 70% say that federal employees are held to a higher standard than employees of the White House. 

80% of respondents cited that the Hatch Act is often or always respected in their workplace and 83% said that the law is enforced moderately, very, or extremely fairly throughout their organization. While the Hatch Act generally functions well within agencies, there is demand for more uniform enforcement across the federal government at large. 

Complete poll results can be found below.

Methodology

GBC and GovExec released a survey between July 3rd and July 10th 2019 to a random sample of Government Executive, Nextgov, Defense One, and Route Fifty subscribers.