Sponsors (2)
Keeps Hatch Act oversight and enforcement running during funding lapses to protect fair government and public trust, at the expense of modest added taxpayer cost and potential fairness/precedent concerns for other federal workers.
Federal employees and the public: the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) can keep investigating alleged Hatch Act violations during a government shutdown, so partisan political misconduct is more likely to be detected and addressed even when many agencies are paused.
Taxpayers and government operations: continuing OSC enforcement during funding lapses helps preserve the prohibition on using official authority for political purposes, supporting fair government operations and public trust.
Taxpayers: classifying OSC Hatch Act work as excepted may justify paying staff during a lapse, producing modest additional costs to the public.
Federal workforce: carving out OSC investigative work as excepted while other agency activities remain paused could raise fairness and precedent concerns about unequal treatment of federal employees during shutdowns.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
During any lapse in appropriations, OSC services tied to alleged violations of 5 U.S.C. §§ 7323 and 7324 are treated as emergency/excepted services under 31 U.S.C. § 1342.
Official title: To provide for the continued operation of the Hatch Act Unit of the Office of Special Counsel during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 10, 2025 by Herbert C. Conaway · Last progress November 10, 2025
Treats work by Office of Special Counsel (OSC) staff that relates to alleged violations of 5 U.S.C. §§ 7323 and 7324 (Hatch Act provisions) as emergency/excepted services during any lapse in appropriations. That means OSC employees performing duties tied to those alleged Hatch Act violations may continue working during a government shutdown to protect the safety of human life or property, but only for the duration of the funding lapse and only for those specific Hatch Act matters.