Federal workers are being told by the Office of Special Counsel – the same office that said Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act – that they should not engage in political activism while at work and that discussing either ‘impeachment’ or ‘resistance’ will be considered political activism.
Here’s more:
THE HILL – The Washington Post reported on Friday that the unsigned guidance, also known as the “Guidance Regarding Political Activity,” was issued by the Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency that also enforces the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from using their work resources and social media accounts for political purposes.
Under the new guidance, federal workers are reportedly prohibited from supporting the impeachment of a candidate for federal office as it would be construed as political due to its implications for elections in the future.
Federal workers would also reportedly be prohibited from using terms like “resistance” and “#resist.”
According to The Post, the ethics nonprofit American Oversight has expressed “significant concerns” about the new guidance in a letter sent to the office on Thursday and called for the memo to be withdrawn.
“OSC’s position on impeachment advocacy or opinions goes too far,” Austin Evers, the group’s executive director, said in the letter seen by The Post. He added that “certainly there is a difference between advocating that an official should (or should not) be elected and advocating that an official did (or did not) commit treason or high crimes and misdemeanors under the Constitution.”
Marc Thiessen was just on Fox News discussing this and said there is absolutely nothing controversial about this at all. He says this is the same non-partisan office that went after both Kellyanne Conway and Nikki Haley for potential violations of the Hatch Act and they are simply issuing guidance that reflects the law:
WATCH: @SandraSmithFox spoke with @marcthiessen about new guidelines warning federal government workers against talking impeachment or "the resistance" while at work #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/VjZnK9d7D8
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) November 30, 2018
I think it makes complete sense. They are saying you can’t engage in political activism at all. You can’t advocate for Trump or talk about resisting him or the administration. These are not political appointees, they are federal workers and their job is support the administration no matter who is in office.