Attorney General Pam Bondi has rescinded a policy that prohibited political appointees at the Justice Department from attending campaign events or fundraisers, according to a memo seen by CBS News on Wednesday.
The move undoes restrictions that were previously implemented by former Attorney General Merrick Garland starting in 2022.
Federal employees are already subject to restrictions on political activities under the Hatch Act, a law that aims to keep the government free from partisan influence.
Prior to Garland’s policy, however, political appointees were allowed to attend certain partisan events in their personal capacity with approval from the department. Under Garland’s 2022 amendments, political appointees were banned from participating in any partisan political event in any capacity — even on Election Day.
His policy also prohibited politically appointed department officials from attending campaign events involving close family members who are running for office. Bondi’s new memo will essentially allow political appointees to once again attend such events.
Garland tightened the policy surrounding political events after the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces the Hatch Act, opened an investigation into whether then-Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins violated the law by attending a Democratic fundraiser featuring first lady Jill Biden.
Rollins was later forced to resign from her post amid investigations into her conduct by both the DOJ’s inspector general and the Office of Special Counsel. The inspector general found she had engaged in a wide range of unethical behavior that not only included attending the fundraiser but also making false statements in her interview with the office and misusing her position in multiple other ways.
A Justice Department official said that “the Hatch Act continues to govern the behavior of Department employees, including political appointees to the Department. Nothing in the Attorney General’s memo suggests otherwise.”
The official said the attorney general “expects full compliance with the Hatch Act from political appointees and as the memo makes clear at multiple points, if an employee is unclear as to whether their course of conduct would violate the Act, employees (including political appointees) are encouraged to seek advice and guidance from career ethics officials within their component.”
