Kellyanne Conway and the Hatch Act: The Case That Showed the Law’s Limit

With complaints pending against several of President Trump’s cabinet secretaries a week before the Nov. 3, 2026 midterms, a precedent from his first term hangs over them: the Conway Hatch Act case. The Office of Special Counsel concluded that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the law, recommended in June 2019 that she be removed, and watched the president decline. That outcome is the clearest illustration of who holds the power to discipline a top aide.

Where it stands: Conway was never disciplined. In November 2021, OSC listed her among at least 13 senior Trump officials it concluded had violated the act before the 2020 election. None of the 2026 complaints against current officials has produced a published OSC finding as of Oct. 28, 2026, and the White House and agencies, per The Times, dismiss them as politically driven and maintain that its officials acted lawfully.

The Conway findings are OSC conclusions, sent to the president as reports; she never had a hearing before the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles cases for most federal workers. Her side of the record is laid out below with each finding.

What did OSC find about Kellyanne Conway in 2018?

OSC found two violations in television interviews about the 2017 Alabama special Senate election. According to the agency’s March 2018 announcement, on November 20, 2017, she appeared in her official capacity on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” and argued against Democrat Doug Jones. On December 6, 2017, on CNN’s “New Day,” she argued for Republican Roy Moore and against Jones.

OSC said both interviews came after Conway “received significant training on Hatch Act prohibitions.” The report noted that she was given a chance to respond during the investigation and after it was completed and “did not respond,” while the White House Counsel’s Office “provided brief explanations” of her statements. OSC sent the report to Mr. Trump “for appropriate disciplinary action.” No discipline followed.

Why did OSC recommend firing Conway in 2019?

The second case covered more conduct and drew a harsher remedy. A report OSC completed in late May 2019 concluded that Conway violated the act in media appearances and by mixing official and campaign content on her Twitter account, “@KellyannePolls.” OSC said it had written to her about the account on December 20, 2018, and raised her media appearances with the White House Counsel’s Office in two March 2019 meetings, without a change in her conduct.

It also cited her own words. In a May 29, 2019 interview, the report says, Conway responded to questions about the law by saying, “Let me know when the jail sentence starts.” OSC wrote that her “defiant attitude is inimical to the law, and her continued pattern of misconduct is unacceptable.” Pointing to MSPB precedent that removal is the appropriate discipline when an employee was warned or had substantial knowledge beforehand, OSC asked for her removal. “OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service,” the report said, as Government Executive reported on its June 13, 2019 release. OSC called her a “repeat offender.”

Notably, the agency making that call was led by Henry Kerner, a Trump appointee.

How did Trump and the White House respond?

The White House rejected the 2019 report on both law and process. Counsel Pat Cipollone sent an 11-page reply, quoted by Government Executive, arguing that OSC’s draft report was “based on fundamental legal and factual errors” and was “the product of a blatantly unfair process that ignored statutory notice requirements.” Deputy press secretary Steven Groves said OSC’s “unprecedented actions are deeply flawed and violate her constitutional rights to free speech and due process.”

The president answered the next day. Mr. Trump said he would not fire Conway, the Associated Press reported, adding that “it looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech and that’s just not fair.” He also said, “she’s got to have a right of responding to questions.”

What precedent did the Conway Hatch Act case set?

It showed that OSC’s findings against a top aide carry only as much weight as the president gives them. OSC said in its 2021 report that the Conway recommendation was the first time it had ever urged a president to dismiss one of his own appointees. The same report described the limit plainly: for officials “whom only the president can discipline,” the law “is only as effective in ensuring a depoliticized federal workforce as the president decides it will be.”

The legal basis is 5 U.S.C. 1215(b). For Senate-confirmed policy officials, OSC’s charges “shall be presented to the President for appropriate action.” OSC treated White House commissioned officers such as Conway the same way, sending her case to Mr. Trump rather than to the board. A president who disagrees with OSC can simply decline, as he did.

The case also settled a narrower point that recurs in current complaints: the president himself is outside the act, but his staff are not. As OSC’s 2018 release put it, “Although the President and Vice President are exempt from the Hatch Act, their employees are not.”

How does the Conway case bear on the 2026 complaints?

Watchdog groups now accuse several cabinet secretaries of mixing official roles and campaign appearances, and those officials deny it; the administration says their activities comply with the law. The Conway record shows what can and cannot follow from those complaints even if OSC agreed with the filers. A published report is possible; discipline would be Mr. Trump’s call, just as it was in 2019.

For the current filings and each official’s response, see our complaints tracker. For how Conway’s case compares with findings against officials of both parties, see the bipartisan history of Hatch Act cases. The last OSC report that named her, released in November 2021, listed her alongside 10 other officials across 18 interviews or media appearances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Kellyanne Conway violate the Hatch Act?

The Office of Special Counsel concluded she did, in a March 2018 report on two TV interviews and a 2019 report on further interviews and her Twitter account. Those were OSC findings sent to the president, not rulings after a board hearing.

Why wasn’t Kellyanne Conway fired?

Only the president can discipline a senior White House aide for a Hatch Act violation, and President Trump said in June 2019 that he would not fire her, calling the effort an attack on her free speech.

What did Conway say about the Hatch Act?

In a May 2019 interview, according to OSC’s report, she said, “Let me know when the jail sentence starts.” She did not respond to OSC’s 2018 investigation.

Who was the special counsel who recommended Conway’s removal?

Henry Kerner, a Trump appointee, led the Office of Special Counsel when it recommended her removal in 2019.

Is the president covered by the Hatch Act?

No. The president and vice president are exempt, but their employees, including senior White House staff, are covered.

Sources

• OSC Concludes Hatch Act Investigation of Kellyanne Conway, Finds Two Violations, and Refers Findings to President for Appropriate Disciplinary Action — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, March 6, 2018
• Report of Prohibited Political Activity Under the Hatch Act, OSC File Nos. HA-19-0631 & HA-19-3395 (Kellyanne Conway) — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, May 30, 2019 (released June 13, 2019)
• Special Counsel Calls for Firing of Kellyanne Conway to Enforce Hatch Act — Government Executive, June 13, 2019
• Trump says he won’t fire Conway over Hatch Act violations — Associated Press (via KSL.com), June 14, 2019
• Investigation of Political Activities by Senior Trump Administration Officials During the 2020 Presidential Election — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, November 9, 2021
• Trump advisers illegally campaigned while in office, government report finds — Reuters (via KSL.com), November 9, 2021
• 5 U.S. Code § 1215 – Disciplinary action — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed October 28, 2026
• Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026

This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.