Recently, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm un President Biden was investigated and found guilty by The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) of violating the Hatch Act in a 2021 interview.
The Hatch Act limits certain political activities of federal employees to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.
Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust (FACT)filed for the OSC investigation shortly after the interview. On October 6th, 2021, Granholm spoke with media outlet Marie Clare and explicitly endorsed Democratic Party candidates with her name and likeness on full display.
During the interview, Granholm remarked that it was “good news” voters gave Democrats majority control of the House and Senate in 2020. Granholm even noted during the interview she couldn’t speak on certain issues because of the Hatch Act.
Granholm went on to claim it was “good news” voters gave Democrats majority control of the House and Senate in 2020.
“OSC has concluded that Secretary Granholm engaged in political activity when she gave this response promoting the electoral success of the Democratic Party,” in June, Erica Hamrick, the deputy chief of the OSC’s Hatch Act Unit, wrote.
“While she then attempted to backpedal by stating that she was using ‘Democrats as a substitute’ for certain policies, at bottom she told listeners that they needed to vote for Democrats so that more Democrats would be elected to pass the legislation they wanted.
“Her attempt to backpedal does not change the meaning of her words or undo the fact that she was talking about the Democratic Party throughout her statement,” Hamrick concluded.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy responded to the report saying, “Secretary Granholm takes her ethics obligations seriously and she remains laser focused on delivering President Biden’s equitable clean energy agenda which will help lower energy costs for American families and enhance our nation’s security.”
While the secretary was been warned for her comments and House members requested more information from the OSC on the violation, not much has come from the situation beyond this point.
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