Two advocacy groups are asking the federal office that enforces the Hatch Act to investigate Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr over remarks they gave at an Oct. 13 campaign rally for Sen. Dan Sullivan in Wasilla, Alaska. The Alaska rally Hatch Act complaint, signed for the legal nonprofit Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) and the press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was dated Oct. 16 and made public Oct. 19.
Where it stands: As of Oct. 28, the Office of Special Counsel, or OSC, had announced neither an investigation nor a decision, and an agency spokeswoman offered no comment when The New York Times asked. The three officials are accused, not found in violation of anything.
The departments’ answers so far are short. An Interior spokesperson told the Times that Burgum appeared in a personal capacity and called the filing baseless and politically motivated, while the Commerce Department and the FCC did not answer the paper’s questions. The Times reported both positions in one passage: “Representatives for the Commerce Department and the F.C.C. did not respond to requests for comment. An Interior Department representative said Mr. Burgum spoke in a personal capacity, dismissing the complaint as baseless and politically motivated.”
What happened at the Wasilla rally?
President Trump headlined a Sullivan campaign event three weeks before Election Day and called three of his appointees to the microphone. The complaint letter, which says its description is drawn from video of the event, records that “President Trump was the headliner for the event.”
According to the letter, Trump introduced Carr first and said the FCC chairman had “informed me a little while ago that the Commission will vote this month to invest an additional $162 million to expand high-speed internet in Alaska.” Carr then told the crowd he was speaking in his personal capacity and closed by saying, “We are committed to working with Senator Sullivan until we can finish the job of getting every single person in Alaska connected to high-speed internet.” The letter adds: “That was the entirety of Chairman Carr’s Remarks.”
Trump then brought up the two cabinet secretaries with the words “Doug, come up, Interior . . . and Howard, please come up, Secretary of Commerce.” The Anchorage Daily News reported that Burgum said “President Trump is the guy that’s going to get the Permanent Fund to double,” and quoted Lutnick on the gas line: “All week we were working with the Taiwanese government, and they agreed to buy 30% of everything produced on that line, and they will invest $4.4 billion on top of the Koreans to make sure this line gets built.”
What does the Alaska rally Hatch Act complaint allege?
The groups argue that each official leaned on his government post to help a candidate, which the statute forbids even for officials who are otherwise free to campaign. Their theory differs for Carr and for the two secretaries.
For Carr, the letter concedes that he opened with a personal-capacity statement but says he went on to talk about pending FCC business, and in doing so “impermissibly mixed his official work into his personal remarks.” For Burgum and Lutnick, the letter stresses that “Neither Secretary Burgum nor Secretary Lutnick stated that they were speaking in their personal capacities” after being introduced by department name. It argues that “By failing to correct the impression that each was speaking officially,” both men used their positions during political activity. It also notes that “Secretary Lutnick also focused his remarks on the Alaska LNG pipeline” and quotes him saying “we announced that project in the Oval Office.”
| Official | What the complaint points to | Response on record |
|---|---|---|
| Brendan Carr, FCC | Personal-capacity opening, then FCC broadband work | FCC did not respond to the Times |
| Doug Burgum, Interior | Introduced as “Interior”; no disclaimer | Personal capacity; complaint baseless |
| Howard Lutnick, Commerce | Introduced by title; pipeline talks | Commerce did not respond to the Times |
The two groups framed the case differently in public. RSF said “Carr’s apparent violation of the Hatch Act deserves close scrutiny and possibly sanctions,” and dated the filing to Oct. 19. The DDF release quoted RSF’s Clayton Weimers in stronger terms, “He must face sanctions for this obvious Hatch Act violation,” and quoted DDF’s Norman Eisen: “This administration keeps testing the boundaries of our democratic guardrails, and this is just the latest example.” Those are the groups’ characterizations, not findings.
Can cabinet secretaries campaign at all?
Yes. The Hatch Act lets most covered officials, cabinet members included, take part in campaigns, but no covered official may use the office to sway an election. The President and Vice President sit outside the law entirely: the statute defines a covered employee as “any individual, other than the President and the Vice President, employed or holding office in” the executive branch. That is why Trump’s own remarks are not part of the complaint.
The rule at issue, 5 U.S.C. 7323(a)(1), bars an employee from using “his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Senate-confirmed policy officials get extra latitude on where and when they campaign, but OSC wrote in its 2021 review of the previous Trump administration that the official-authority rule is one “for which there are no exemptions for Senate-confirmed presidential appointees or EOP commissioned officers.” Our explainer on the personal capacity rule walks through how that line has been drawn.
Does saying “personal capacity” settle it?
Not by itself, according to past OSC reports, which is why Carr’s disclaimer does not end the question the groups raised. In the same 2021 report, OSC said cabinet members speaking politically in a personal capacity “must avoid talking about the work of their agencies to ensure that they do not mix their official work with their personal political activity.”
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OSC applied similar reasoning in 2016 to Housing Secretary Julián Castro, a finding that agency made and Castro acknowledged. Government Executive reported OSC’s view that his on-air caveat “could not negate the fact that he was appearing in his official capacity for the rest of the interview.” Whether the Wasilla remarks resemble those earlier cases is a judgment only OSC can make, and the officials’ departments maintain they were personal appearances.
What about the pipeline money mentioned on stage?
The dollar figures voiced at the rally are claims, and some are disputed. The Anchorage Daily News wrote that Trump “doubled down during the rally” on a South Korean pledge of “$50 billion” for the line, “a claim that Korean officials have refuted.” Earlier, the paper’s editorial board reported that South Korea’s industry minister, Kim Jung-kwan, said Seoul “had agreed neither to $54 billion nor to an investment at all.” When Trump first announced the Korean figure on Sept. 30, the Daily News reported that Glenfarne, the project’s majority owner, “has yet to announce a final investment decision, a critical step needed for the project to move forward.” Our earlier look at the rival North Slope gas plans covers the project itself.
The ADN also reported that Trump praised Sullivan as “one of the best senators that you have” and “credited him with advancing the gas pipeline.” Sullivan, seeking a third term, faces Democrat Mary Peltola on Nov. 3.
What happens next?
OSC can investigate, close the file, or issue a report, but for Senate-confirmed officials a report goes to the President, who decides any discipline. Nothing public indicates OSC has opened a case on this complaint. It sits alongside other 2026 filings tracked in our Hatch Act complaints list and the broader overview of cabinet officials on the trail.
The last dated development is the Times story of Oct. 28, which carried Interior’s denial and reported that Commerce and the FCC had not responded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who filed the Alaska rally Hatch Act complaint?
Democracy Defenders Fund and Reporters Without Borders. The letter to the Office of Special Counsel is dated Oct. 16, 2026, and the groups announced it on Oct. 19.
Did Lutnick, Burgum or Carr violate the Hatch Act?
No authority has said so. The complaint asks OSC to investigate. As of Oct. 28, 2026, no OSC finding had been announced, and Interior says Burgum appeared in a personal capacity.
Why is President Trump not named in the complaint?
The Hatch Act excludes the President and Vice President from its definition of covered employees, so it does not restrict their own campaigning.
What did Carr say at the Wasilla rally?
According to the complaint, he said he was speaking in his personal capacity, then said he was committed to working with Sen. Sullivan to connect every Alaskan to high-speed internet, after Trump announced a planned FCC broadband vote.
Can OSC punish a cabinet secretary?
Not directly. For Senate-confirmed officials, the agency can only report to the President, and any penalty is his call.
Sources
- Request for Hatch Act Investigation into High-Level Officials’ Participation in October 13 Campaign Rally for Alaska Senate Candidate Dan Sullivan — Democracy Defenders Fund and Reporters Without Borders (complaint letter to OSC), October 16, 2026
- USA: RSF and DDF file complaint against FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for potential misuse of office during partisan campaigning — Reporters Without Borders, October 19, 2026
- Trump Administration Officials Who Spoke at Alaska Campaign Rally May Have Violated Federal Law — Democracy Defenders Fund, October 19, 2026
- Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026
- Trump rallies in Wasilla with promises of additional foreign investment in gas line — Anchorage Daily News, October 13, 2026
- Editorial: Fifty-four billion reasons to read the fine print — Anchorage Daily News editorial board (opinion), October 10, 2026
- Trump says South Korea will invest $54B in Alaska natural gas pipeline — Anchorage Daily News, September 30, 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 Finds Hatch Act Violations by HUD Chief, Others — Government Executive, July 2016
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.