HHS Secretary Fined For Hatch Act Violation

In an unprecedented ruling that has received virtually no reporting by the mainstream media, a high-ranking member of the Obama administration, Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, has been fined by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel for violating the Hatch Act after she used a taxpayer-funded event to publicly campaign for Obama's re-election. The Daily Caller reports:

The Obama White House appears to be offering special treatment to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in the wake of the news Wednesday afternoon that President Barack Obama’s cabinet official violated the Hatch Act — activity that is illegal and normally results in the offender’s termination from government employment.

“These were extemporaneous remarks. … The U.S. Treasury has been reimbursed, and Secretary Sebelius has met with ethics experts to ensure this never happens again,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told The Associated Press in response to the news that Sebelius violated the Hatch Act.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said Wednesday that Sebelius violated the law when she publicly endorsed President Barack Obama’s re-election during a taxpayer-funded public event on Feb. 25, 2012.

Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner wrote to Obama that the OSC found Sebelius “violated the Hatch Act by making extemporaneous political remarks in a speech delivered in her official capacity” on Feb. 25.

“The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their official authority or influence to affect the outcome of an election,” Lerner wrote to the president. “A federal employee is permitted to make partisan remarks when speaking in their personal capacity, but not when using an official title or when speaking about agency business.”

“Secretary Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services reimbursed the U.S. government for all costs and expenses associated with her travel to the February 25, 2012, event,” Lerner continued. “HHS subsequently reclassified the trip from official to political and issued a statement to that effect. OSC found no evidence that Secretary Sebelius made any other political statements in her official capacity.”

As HHS Secretary, Sebelius has responsibility for implementing Obama's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act. The Daily Caller was told by attorneys who have experience handling Hatch Act cases that federal employees who violate the law are typically fired. Because of her high-level position, only President Obama can take action to punish her for violating the law and he's not about to fire her since he whole-heartily endorses the use of federal tax resources to support his re-election. Throughout his presidency, he has been campaigning for re-election at political events paid for by taxpayers as public events. If this had happened in a Republican administration, it would be front-page news. The lamestream media, which has its head up Obama's ass, instead spends it time coordinating their work to play gotcha with Mitt Romney every time he steps in front of the cameras. There is no free media in this country any more if you rely on your news from the mainstream media. They simply operate as a state-run media for King Obama's benefit.