Trump’s ‘Repeated, Blatant’ Hatch Act Violations Over Gerrymandering Must Be Investigated, Sen. Padilla Demands

By Jim Saksa

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) questions witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

The Trump Administration’s ongoing and blatant violations of the Hatch Act — the 1939 federal law prohibiting federal employees from using the power of their offices for partisan goals — must be investigated, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) urged in a letter to U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) Tuesday.

“Throughout the year, White House senior officials and others in the Trump Administration have been clearly and openly engaged in a political campaign to gain seats for the Republican Party in Congress via a rare and controversial mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and many other states,” wrote Padilla in the letter, which was first reported by Democracy Docket.

After Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, initially wrote to OSC in July, the office confirmed it would open an investigation. But since then, there have been no updates, even as the Department of Justice sent letters to Texas pushing it to redraw its congressional map shortly after President Donald Trump declared Republicans were “entitled to five more seats” there.

Padilla’s letter comes as Trump continues to pressure other states into rare mid-decade redistricting for the explicit purpose of winning the Republican party more seats in Congress. That pressure has led to death threats against at least 11 Indiana Republican state senators, including Greg Walker, who recently rebuffed a White House invitation, calling it a violation of the Hatch Act. 

Walker told local media he would have reported the action, “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation and actually cause someone to lose their job over it.”

Padilla also pointed OSC to allegations that administration officials are using private messaging services that automatically delete conversations in violation of federal recording laws. 

OSC is an independent agency tasked with enforcing the Hatch Act and other administration oversight laws. Despite being confirmed by the Senate to a five-year appointment in 2024,  Hampton Dellinger, the head of OSC, was fired by Trump in February.