HUD Homepage is Blatant Violation of Hatch Act, New Complaint Alleges
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Public Citizen filed a complaint against the Department of Housing and Urban Development over a disturbing pop-up window on the agency’s homepage alleging the “Radical Left” is to blame for the impending government shutdown. The complaint argues that the graphic is a clear violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of taxpayer money for partisan political purposes.
Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with Public Citizen who filed the complaint, commented on the news:
“This is such an obvious violation of the Hatch Act that it raises the question: ‘How on Earth does HUD think they can get away with this?’ The answer is that the Trump administration has managed to neuter the ethics enforcement offices in the executive branch. Those who are responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act — namely, the Office of Special Counsel, followed by the Office of Government Ethics and the Attorney General’s office — have all been taken over by Trump loyalists or those who are intimidated by Trump.
Nevertheless, the sheer crassness of this partisan advertisement by HUD using taxpayer dollars to campaign against Democrats and promote the Trump administration is going to make it exceedingly difficult for even a neutered ethics office to ignore. The public sees it. The world sees it. And it is clearly partisan and political. To turn a blind eye to what everyone else sees may be too embarrassing.”
The full complaint is available to review here.