Sen. Marco Rubio is demanding answers as to why more than 500 staffers in President Joe Biden’s administration were supporting Hamas’ call for a ceasefire in the war with Israel.
The Florida Republican on Tuesday asserted that these federal employees may have violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits civil servants from openly engaging in political matters.
In a press release, Rubio noted that the public letter signed by these workers also undercut President Joe Biden, who has nominally sided with Israel while also calling for an end to the hostilities.
NBC News reported two weeks ago that in the letter, the employees noted, “We represent a coalition of Biden-Harris Administration political appointees and civil servants, positioned across the domestic and foreign policy spheres, working in federal agencies, departments, independent agencies, and the White House.”
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a ceasefire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip,” they added.
In his own letter to U.S. Office of Special Counsel Acting Special Counsel Karen Gorman, Rubio wanted a probe into whether these employees did this while allegedly working for the taxpayers.
“Given the timeline with which the anonymous letter was sent and the known connections between administration staff and the president’s political allies, it is reasonable to suspect that these government employees could have coordinated the letter with partisan political actors and/or groups, such as the DNC [Democratic National Committee], while on government time, using government resources,” Rubio wrote to Gorman.
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“If this suspicion were to be true, it would constitute major violation of the Hatch Act, which places certain prohibitions on partisan political activities for federal employees while at work.”
Rubio added that he wanted “to ensure that no official government resources were used to coordinate this letter with domestic and/or foreign political actors or entities making similar demands” as the federal employees.
Rubio directed a second letter to the inspectors general at numerous agencies, calling for another investigation.
In that letter, Rubio argued that the signers’ demand for a ceasefire “only stands to benefit Hamas, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, to the detriment of Israel, one of our closest allies.”
“Further,” he added, “the letter indicates the possibility of open insubordination and misuse of taxpayer provided resources by federal employees attempting to use their roles within the federal government to actively work against policies supported by Congress, the President, and the American people.”
“The signers of this letter are not whistleblowers seeking to expose wrongdoing within the executive branch. Rather, they are disgruntled staffers hiding in anonymity as they advocate for policies aimed at assisting Hamas,” he continued.
“As is the case with any workplace, if an individual feels they can no longer support the goals and missions of their employer, they can, and should, resign from their post. This is especially true in government, where representing the will of the American people is of the utmost importance.”
“However,” Rubio wrote, “there has been no mass resignation from the administration over disagreements concerning Israel’s response to, and attempted prevention of, terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. Instead, these individuals are hiding behind anonymity because they want to continue to enjoy the privileges that comes with working in the U.S. government, despite their opposition to policies supported by the President, Congress, and a majority of the American people.”
According to Rubio’s office, that letter went to the IGs at the following departments: Treasury, State, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Agriculture, Interior, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Justice, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Defense, and Labor.
Other agencies that received a copy included: Environmental Protection Agency, International Trade Commission, Small Business Administration, Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Council of Economic Advisers, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.
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