The White House signaled it may challenge a finding that Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated a federal law that prohibits government officials from making political statements while on the job when she referred to “mega MAGA Republicans” during a press briefing.
(Bloomberg) — The White House signaled it may challenge a finding that Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated a federal law that prohibits government officials from making political statements while on the job when she referred to “mega MAGA Republicans” during a press briefing.
White House attorneys are reviewing a letter sent by the Office of Special Counsel finding use of the term ran afoul of the Hatch Act and will respond directly to the independent watchdog agency, Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
But the press secretary declined to say if she would cease using the phrase, and noted that the previous White House and congressional Republicans had used the phrase “MAGA” – an abbreviation of former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – in official documents.
“The White House Counsel’s Office is reviewing their opinion and is going to respond to them, so certainly not going to get ahead of how the White House Counsel is going to respond or what’s going to come out from that action,” Jean-Pierre said. She noted Trump’s White House website contained nearly 2,000 instances of using “MAGA” to describe policies.
The 1939 law limiting political activity by government employees became a frequent issue during the Trump administration, with officials routinely flouting the restrictions and facing little punishment.
The Office of Special Counsel said in 2021 that it had observed more than a dozen instances of Trump administration officials — including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and senior advisers Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, and Stephen Miller — intentionally violating the restrictions. At one point, the watchdog recommended Conway be terminated over repeated violations.
Jean-Pierre has often cited the act in declining to answer questions even tangentially related to politics from the White House podium, leading to grumbling from reporters that she has sought to use the restrictions as a shield from difficult questions. On Tuesday, she cited that caution to emphasize that the White House took the concerns seriously, even as she stopped short of apologizing for her comments.
“Many of you have mentioned with friendly consternation how often we take the Hatch Act and we follow the Hatch Act,” Jean-Pierre said.
The White House and President Joe Biden have frequently used “MAGA” as a shorthand way to criticize Trump without mentioning him by name, and oriented their largely successful midterm electoral strategy around painting Republicans as inextricably tied to the former president.
Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that her comments on “mega MAGA Republicans” had received sign-off as appropriate and noted that the Office of Special Counsel did not recommend disciplinary action.
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