Tipsheet

House Oversight Authorizes Subpoena for Kellyanne Conway Over the Hatch Act

Cortney O'Brien
Cortney O'Brien  |  June 26, 2019 11:30 AM

Well, they've gone and done it. The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted to authorize a subpoena for White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway to testify about her potential Hatch Act violations. The panel says that Conway engaged in "egregious, repeated, and very public violations” of the ethics law. 

"Here, we have a clear-cut case of a federal employee violating federal law over and over and over again,”  Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) alleged on Wednesday after the panel's vote.

Conway knows what's going on. The Democrats on the panel, she said earlier this week, want to silence her.

"They want a big roll of masking tape over my mouth," was how she put it.

The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity. The Office of Special Counsel argues that Conway has broken the laws on more than one occasion, including last year when she weighed in on the Alabama special election and more recently as she has mocked some of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and their agendas. On June 13, the OSC formally requested that President Trump remove her from office.

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President Trump came to the same conclusion and assured Conway that her job and her right to free speech will be protected under his watch. To the dismay of the OSC, Trump said she's not going anywhere. The White House had also blocked Conway from testifying. 

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called the Hatch Act charges ludicrous.

But one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who recently called for Trump's impeachment, voted in favor of the subpoena.