# 119-s-806: Hatch Act Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Act

119-s-806, Hatch Act Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM); status introduced (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-806
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-806
- Congress: 119
- Title: Hatch Act Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-27
- Sponsor: Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**Strengthening transparency and accountability in Hatch Act enforcement.** The bill would require the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to add clear definitions, report regularly to Congress about decisions on noncareer employees, and publish enforcement and demographic data for public review. - The bill creates new definitions for "career employee," "noncareer employee," and "covered allegation" to clarify who the rules apply to and which appointment types count. - It would require OSC to notify congressional oversight leaders every 180 days about decisions not to investigate noncareer employees and to provide annual reports with counts of covered allegations, investigations initiated, and confidential addenda showing outcomes and whether Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) complaints and penalties followed. - The bill would force public transparency by requiring OSC to publish anonymized demographic and enforcement data for both career and noncareer employees, retain that data for at least 10 fiscal years, and allow the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and agency heads to supply race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, disability status, and career status on request. - It includes a severability clause so the rest of the law stays in effect if one part is found unconstitutional.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-02-27T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Severability keeps other provisions active: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would include a severability clause. If a court finds any part of the Act unconstitutional, the rest of the Act and its remaining applications would not be affected by that decision.
- More reporting on employee political complaints: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would require the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to send a first written report to committee leaders within 180 days and then every 180 days. Each 180-day report would list how many complaints were referred for discipline, include a copy of each complaint, name the employee an…
- Public data on Hatch Act cases: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would require OSC to publish anonymized, fiscal-year-organized statistics on covered allegations for career and noncareer employees. OSC would publish counts of people alleged in the fiscal year, counts investigated (even if investigated later), counts presented to the Merit Sy…
- Who counts as career or noncareer: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would add a new definitions section that defines 'career employee,' 'noncareer employee,' and 'covered allegation.' The definitions would tie career status to a specific statutory cross-reference and list which appointment types count as noncareer, including Presidential appoin…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-806 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/806)

## Related
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2120)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-806 (as of 2025-12-21).