The Public’s Trust (PPT) has accused Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of violating federal law by sending a mass email attacking Republicans for opposing student debt cancellation. The email was deemed “glaringly political” by PPT, which subsequently filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Education Department (ED) inspector general. The accusation is based on the violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using their office to engage in partisan political activities aimed at influencing the outcome of an election.
In the email, Cardona portrayed Republican elected officials as “siding with special interests and trying to block Americans from accessing all the benefits of the most affordable student loan repayment plan in history,” while also commending the Biden-Harris administration for “fighting” on behalf of Americans, as stated in a PPT press release.
“Let me be clear: President Biden and I are determined to lower costs for student loan borrowers, to make repaying student affordable and realistic, and to build on our separate efforts that have already provided relief to 4.75 million Americans — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” a portion of the email reads. “While we disagree with the Republican elected officials’ efforts here to side with special interests and block borrowers from getting breathing room on their student loans, President Biden and our Administration will not stop fighting to make sure Americans have affordable access to the lifechanging opportunities a higher education can provide.”
Cardona utilized his official position and government resources to distribute a partisan email to an official government email list, which goes against the regulations of the Hatch Act, as stated in the complaint filed by PPT. The organization also highlighted the significance of student loan forgiveness in the upcoming 2024 presidential election and drew parallels between the language in Cardona’s email and that of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign before he withdrew from the race.
PPT urged the OSC and the ED inspector general to promptly investigate the email to determine if Cardona breached the Hatch Act. Consequences for violating the Hatch Act range from removal from federal employment, demotion, prohibition from federal employment for up to five years, suspension, reprimand, to civil penalties of up to $1,000.
“You almost have to admire the chutzpa of sending out full-on campaign literature to millions of citizens from your official Education Department email address,” PPT director Michael Chamberlain said. “Unfortunately, it’s indicative of the attitude of too many in this administration toward the restrictions and ethics standards by which the executive branch is supposed to operate — the ones President Biden and Vice President Harris referred to when they promised the most ethical administration in history.”
Several officials in the Biden-Harris administration have been found to have breached the Hatch Act. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) concluded that Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge violated the law by engaging in partisan political activities, as reported by various sources. In one instance, Granholm expressed her satisfaction that Democrats secured majority control of both the House and Senate in 2020, while Fudge commended Democratic candidates in Ohio. According to CNN, watchdog organizations have alleged that both White House press secretaries appointed by Biden also violated the Hatch Act.