The Biden administration has a problem with following orders. Rules are for the little people, not them.

 Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) is a nonpartisan watchdog organization. It educates the public about potential misconduct to ensure the integrity of public office. All public servants are expected to observe established rules, regulations, and ethical guidelines.

President Biden pledged to lead a transparent and ethical administration. That has not proven to be the case. Organizations like PPT frequently have to file a lawsuit or a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get the information it seeks. 

One area in which the Biden administration seems to have particular trouble with is the Hatch Act. There seems to be frequent violations of the Hatch Act by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. 

KJP has been found to be in violation of the Hatch Act twice but has not received any disciplinary action. She made an April Fool's Day joke which flopped in the White House briefing room. It was something about President Biden suspending the Hatch Act. That is how arrogant she and others are in the current administration. They mock laws and regulations. We have seen that Biden ignores Supreme Court rulings in his actions to forgive student loan debt. They do as they please. The media is happy to cover for them.

Government employees are not allowed to engage in partisan politics while on the job. One sticking point is the use of Donald Trump's campaign slogan, Make America Great Again (MAGA) in communications from the administration. While KJP was admonished for using "MAGA" in reference to Republicans in a negative way during White House briefings, the SBA has used the language in it official communications. PPT asked the OSC to investigate alleged repeated violations of the Hatch Act by White House and SBA personnel after reviewing emails obtained from SBA by FOIA requests.

When Donald Trump announced he would be running in the 2024 presidential primary, OSC advised federal employees against using campaign slogans while on the job. MAGA was specifically noted at the time. 

Since December 2015, OSC has been clear that federal employees disseminating emails containing campaign slogans run afoul of the Hatch Act - that includes emails sent or forwarded within the government.

PPT found violations between January and May 2023 at both the White House and SBA. 

Here is a sampling of the violations:

• A White House-generated email titled "Talking Points: House Republican MAGA Economic Plan." It asked recipients “Please find talking points below on the President’s veto of the extreme MAGA Republican bill.  Feel free to deploy now to your respective universes.”
• A White House-generated email with a “Cheat Sheet” touting the economic record of the Biden administration “in contrast to MAGA Republicans in Congress who are creating chaos and proposing an extreme and divisive agenda …” 
• A White House-generated email titled “Talking Points: President Biden’s Veto of Extreme MAGA Republican Bill.” (Forwarded by two SBA officials internally.)
• A White House-generated email titled to government agencies 19 recipients at nine agencies titled “Investing in America Tour Pitch.” In this case, the sentence, “Extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have proposed legislation to ship manufacturing jobs overseas, as well as increase health care costs, energy costs, and prescription drug prices for working families,” was repeated fifty-six times a total of 1,064 potential violations of the Hatch Act.
• The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs emailed Mark Madrid, assistant administrator at SBA (and likely officials at other agencies), a newsletter stating, “across our country, MAGA extremists are advancing hundreds of hateful state laws that target transgender kids and their families.”

Hmm. Looks like the administration just doesn't care. They do as they please. Many other emails show Administrator Guzman and Assistant Administrator Madrid received emails from the Democrat National Committee at their official, not personal, email addresses between November 2022 and June 2023. They are campaigning on the taxpayer's dime - their official time on the job. 

The director of PPT issued a statement. 

“This continual apparent disregard of the Hatch Act shows why it’s needed in the first place,” said PPT Director Michael Chamberlain. “American citizens don’t pay their public servants to wage a permanent political campaign while disparaging their opponents. Karine Jean-Pierre has even shown that she thinks the Hatch Act is a joke. In this case, officials have an opportunity to do something to address the public’s plummeting trust in government, something they have yet to do in the face of previous violations. We hope they take it.”

Color me skeptical that anything will happen. The Biden administration is one that does not play by the rules. They get away with it and nothing changes. Rules only apply when a Republican is in office. In the meantime, I hope watchdog organizations like PPT will continue to hold them accountable.