Who Pays for Cabinet Campaign Travel? The Reimbursement Rules, Explained

With cabinet secretaries flying to rallies and fundraisers in the last weeks of the midterm campaign, the bill for those flights has become its own point of contention: who pays when a federal official travels to a campaign event? With voting ending Nov. 3, the federal rules on cabinet campaign travel give a clear answer in principle: the political share must not come out of the Treasury, and if the government fronts the money, it has to be paid back within a reasonable time.

Where it stands: Through Oct. 28, none of the public reporting we reviewed documented a campaign or party reimbursing the government for any specific 2026 cabinet trip; that does not mean no repayment occurred, only that none has been made public. A pending complaint over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s August trip to Iowa asks the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to find out.

Officials say they follow the rules. Before Hegseth’s May campaign stop in Kentucky, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Newsweek: “No taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit.” Administration spokespeople describe the wave of 2026 complaints as a partisan effort aimed at Republicans and insist officials obey the law, the Times reported on Oct. 28.

Who is allowed to campaign on the job?

Only a small group. Most federal workers cannot do political activity on duty or in government vehicles, but the Hatch Act carves out top policy officials. The carve-out covers “an employee appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose position is located within the United States, who determines policies to be pursued by the United States in relations with foreign powers or in the nationwide administration of Federal laws.”

The permission comes with a money condition written into the statute. Such an official “may engage in political activity otherwise prohibited by subsection (a) if the costs associated with that political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury of the United States.” The carve-out does not relax the separate ban on using official authority to sway an election; our Q&A on cabinet campaigning covers that side.

Who pays for cabinet campaign travel?

The campaign, party or other political sponsor pays the political portion, or reimburses it. The implementing regulation, 5 CFR 734.503, says “Costs associated with a political activity are deemed not to be paid for by money derived from the Treasury of the United States if the Treasury is reimbursed for the costs within a reasonable period of time.” It does not define “reasonable.”

Some costs never count as political. The rule excludes expenses the government “would have or have incurred regardless of whether the activity was political,” and lists examples: the official’s pay, government office space, required staff, and “The cost of special security arrangements for the person engaging in the political activity, including special transportation vehicles or methods.” That security line is why a motorcade or protective detail does not have to be billed to a campaign.

How is a mixed official and political trip split?

By time on the ground. The regulation says “An employee covered under this subpart must apportion the costs of mixed travel based on the time spent on political activities and the time spent performing official duties.” Hours in the air, private study and downtime are left out; the rule says “Time spent in actual travel, private study, or rest and recreation is not included” in the calculation.

The political percentage is then applied to what a fully political trip would have cost, and “The product of that calculation represents the amount to be paid by the political entity or organization.” There is a small-share exception: if one side of a trip is minor, “e.g. less than 3%,” the whole trip is treated as the other kind.

Kentucky shows why the split matters. Newsweek reported that “Hegseth will be in Kentucky on Monday as part of his official duties to preside over a ceremony at Fort Campbell to award Purple Hearts,” the same day as the Gallrein rally, which makes it a mixed trip on its face. The Pentagon says no taxpayer money paid for the political appearance; it has not published how the costs were divided.

What about military jets and security flights?

This is the open question in 2026. Little Village reported that “Hegseth is traveling on a government aircraft” for his Aug. 17 trip to Des Moines to campaign for Rep. Zach Nunn, and that the Defense Department said he is “mandated to use military aircraft for all travel, both official and unofficial, due to the continuous need for secure communications and responsive transportation for national security.” The Pentagon’s explanation rests on security and communications, which is the subject of the regulation’s exemption; whether that exemption covers a flight to a fundraiser has not been publicly tested.

Others read the practice more narrowly. Richard Painter, the White House’s chief ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, told The Gazette that his office did not approve “of other officials using U.S. government aircraft for campaign events, and then just having the government reimbursed for the price of the ticket, unless there was mixed official and political business at the location.” The paper added: “The Pentagon did not tell The Gazette the cost of Hegseth’s military flight or whether Nunn’s campaign or another political entity reimbursed the government.” No public record of reimbursement had been reported. Details of the complaint are in our Hegseth report.

What happened when officials did not pay?

OSC has limited tools to collect. In 2020, OSC concluded that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated the Hatch Act at an official Aug. 24 event in North Carolina; Roll Call reported OSC said there would be “no disciplinary action if he quickly reimburses the U.S.” In its 2021 report, OSC wrote: “To date, OSC has no evidence that Secretary Perdue has reimbursed the U.S.” USDA appointees had disputed OSC’s view, according to the report.

The same report named the gap: “OSC has no clear mechanism for obtaining reimbursement for taxpayers when a government official engages in taxpayer-funded campaign activity while on official government travel.” It said OSC “is unable to recover those costs for taxpayers unless the PAS agrees to voluntarily reimburse the government,” and proposed a law change: “A statutory amendment allowing OSC to seek reimbursement from the traveling official personally before the MSPB in such cases would help to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not improperly used for partisan political purposes.” That idea has not become law; current proposals are tracked in our look at Hatch Act reform.

The 2012 Sebelius case ran the other way. The Hill reported that, according to OSC, her department changed the classification of that trip after the fact, treating it as political, and that “The Democratic National Committee also reimbursed the government for the cost of the trip, according to the OSC.” More cases are collected in our history of findings in both parties.

Is midterm travel by cabinet members new?

No. Before the 2006 midterms, according to a 2008 House Oversight report by Democrat Henry Waxman described by Government Executive, “Cabinet secretaries and other senior Bush administration officials made trips to more than 300 events recommended by the White House Office of Political Affairs.” The committee’s top Republican, Tom Davis, called the report “hopelessly political,” the outlet reported.

The rules for paying have not changed since then. The latest dated fact on 2026 travel is The Gazette’s August report that the Pentagon would not say what Hegseth’s Iowa flight cost or who, if anyone, repaid it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can taxpayers pay for a cabinet secretary to attend a campaign rally?

Not for the political portion. Federal rules say the political costs of a Senate-confirmed official’s activity may not come from the Treasury unless the Treasury is reimbursed within a reasonable time.

Do campaigns have to pay for an official’s security?

No. The regulation excludes costs the government would incur anyway, including the official’s salary, required staff and special security arrangements.

How is a trip with both official and political stops paid for?

Costs are split by the time spent on official versus political activities, not counting travel time or rest. The political share is paid by the campaign or political organization.

Did anyone reimburse the government for Hegseth’s Iowa trip?

That has not been reported. The Pentagon did not tell The Gazette the flight cost or whether any political entity paid, and a pending complaint asks OSC to find out.

What happens if an official never reimburses the Treasury?

OSC said in 2021 it has no clear way to force repayment from a Senate-confirmed official and asked Congress for that power. It cited Sonny Perdue, who it had no evidence ever repaid.

Sources

• Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026
• 5 CFR 734.503: Allocation and reimbursement of costs associated with political activities — eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), current as of October 27, 2026
• 5 U.S.C. Chapter 73, Subchapter III: Political Activities — U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), 2023 edition
• Investigation of Political Activities by Senior Trump Administration Officials During the 2020 Presidential Election — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, November 9, 2021
• Special counsel raps Perdue for political talk on taxpayer dime — Roll Call, October 8, 2020
• HHS’s Sebelius illegally campaigned for Obama on the job — The Hill, September 12, 2012
• Waxman claims Cabinet political trips funded by taxpayers — Government Executive, October 2008
• Pentagon Defends Hegseth Stumping for Massie Challenger Amid Hatch Act Violation Claims — Newsweek, May 2026
• Pete Hegseth campaigns for Nunn at Iowa State Fair — Little Village, August 2026
• Did Hegseth’s Iowa campaign appearance violate DoD rules? — The Gazette (Cedar Rapids), August 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.