§227 Wrongfully Influencing a Private Entity’s Employment Decisions by a Member of Congress or an Officer or Employee of the Legislative or Executive Branch

Summary

It is illegal for certain government people to try, on purpose and only because of someone's political party, to affect a private employer’s hiring or firing. That includes using or refusing to use official power, threatening to do that, or pushing someone else to use their official power for the same purpose. "Covered government person" means one of the following: a Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner; an employee of either House of Congress; or the President, Vice President, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service or Postal Regulatory Commission, or another executive-branch employee (see 5 U.S.C. 2105).