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S806119th Congress

Hatch Act Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Act

Sponsored By: Senator Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]

Introduced

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.

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  • 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.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.

Severability keeps other provisions active

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

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 and job, and say whether the subject is a career or noncareer employee. If enacted, the bill would also require an annual report on covered allegations involving noncareer and former noncareer employees for the prior year. The annual report would state how many allegations were received and how many led to investigations. A confidential addendum to key committee leaders would name each noncareer or former noncareer person whose allegation was not investigated, describe outcomes, and, for those not in Presidential Senate-confirmed jobs at the time, say whether a complaint was presented to the Merit Systems Protection Board and whether any civil penalty was collected.

Public data on Hatch Act cases

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 Systems Protection Board, and anonymized race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, and disability data. OSC would keep each fiscal year's information on its website for at least 10 fiscal years. If enacted, the bill would also let OSC request demographic and career/noncareer status data from OPM, agency heads, and the White House personnel office when those data already exist.

Who counts as career or noncareer

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 appointees, certain noncareer appointees, some non-merit Senior Executive Service equivalents, and positions covered by a listed statutory determination. The bill would define a covered allegation as an allegation about prohibited political activity under the named Hatch Act provisions.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]

NM • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]

    NM • D

    Sponsored 2/27/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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