Watchdog and advocacy groups have filed more than 20 publicly reported Hatch Act complaints against Trump administration officials since mid-2025, most of them in the eight weeks before the Nov. 3, 2026 midterm election. This tracker lists each one we could document from the filers’ own records or from news reports, current through Oct. 28. Each entry is an accusation. None has produced a finding against the official named.
The officials and the White House reject the complaints. Agency representatives argue that the filings are politically motivated to hurt Republicans and that the conduct was lawful, The New York Times reported, and the departments’ specific answers appear in the table. Some filers are openly adversarial: Government Executive describes Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) as a legal group focused on countering the administration. Others, such as The Steady State, call themselves nonpartisan.
Where it stands: OSC, the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates these filings, is publicly known to have closed one of them, a complaint about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s May rally in Kentucky, without action. It has announced no decision on any other complaint in this list.
How many Hatch Act complaints have been filed against Trump officials?
There is no official public count for senior officials, because OSC does not publish complaints it receives. The table below has 17 entries, several naming more than one person, all drawn from documents or reporting we could verify.
For scale, OSC’s year-end figures show 694 new Hatch Act complaints about all federal workers arrived during fiscal 2025, against 458 a year earlier. Its Sept. 25 shutdown report also dealt, as a single batch, with a separate wave of over 1,000 filings about partisan agency posts and banners; our cabinet overview explains how that decision affects the campaign-season cases.
Which Hatch Act complaints were filed during the 2026 campaign?
Most of the 2026 filings concern speeches at campaign events, TV interviews and official social media posts. They are listed in the order they were filed.
| Official named | Filed by, when | What is alleged | Response and status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Hegseth, Defense | The Steady State, date not public | May 18 Kentucky rally for Ed Gallrein | Pentagon: cleared by lawyers. OSC closed it; group challenging |
| Todd Blanche, Justice | Public Citizen, Aug. | Aug. 14 Long Island rally for Bruce Blakeman | DOJ: baseless. Pending |
| Administration officials (grants) | CREW, Sept. 9 | Canceling clean-energy grants by state politics | OMB, Energy: no reply. Pending |
| Sean Duffy, Transportation | DDF, Sept. 10 | August speech at a Michigan super PAC event | DOT: baseless. OSC confirmed receipt |
| Leo Terrell, Justice | CREW, Sept. 10 and Oct. 7 | Partisan posts on his government X account | None found. Pending |
| Pete Hegseth, Defense | The Steady State, Sept. 11 | Aug. 17 Iowa fundraiser for Rep. Zach Nunn | Pentagon: personal capacity. Pending |
| Markwayne Mullin, Homeland Security | CREW, Sept. 14 | Remarks at a Sept. 12 Miller-Meeks campaign fundraiser | Follows ethics rules. Pending |
| Kash Patel, FBI | CREW, Oct. 1 | Sept. 29 Fox News segment | None found. Pending |
| FBI Rapid Response video | CREW, Oct. 6; DDF letter, Oct. 15 | Video labeling Abdul El-Sayed by party | FBI deleted it, no comment |
| Six officials incl. Russell Vought, Mullin | Campaign Legal Center, Oct. 7 | Taxpayer-funded TV ads featuring Trump | White House: not campaign ads. Pending |
| DHS press office | CREW, Oct. 8 | Release naming a Democratic House candidate | None found. Pending |
| Steven Cheung, White House | CREW, Oct. 8 | Post on X with a caricature of Senate candidate James Talarico | None found. Pending |
| Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff | CREW, Oct. 9 | Fox News interview with Sean Hannity | None found. Pending |
| Mullin, Joseph Edlow, Blanche | DDF, Oct. 13 | Oct. 12 search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s D.C. home | DOJ: within policy. Pending |
| Doug Burgum, Howard Lutnick, Brendan Carr | DDF and RSF, Oct. 16 letter | Remarks at Oct. 13 Wasilla, Alaska, rally | Interior: baseless. Commerce, FCC: no reply |
| Brandon Beach, Treasurer | The Steady State, Oct. 17 | Oct. 14 Treasury TikTok video | None found. Pending |
| RFK Jr., Mullin, Scott Bessent, Brooke Rollins | CREW, Oct. 22-26 | TV interviews and campaign rally remarks | Mullin: follows ethics rules. Pending |
“Pending” means only that no outcome has been reported; OSC does not confirm open investigations. The Steady State’s challenge to the Kentucky closure is reported only by the Times; other outlets had not independently reported it as of Oct. 28. Details on the biggest entries are in our explainers on the Hegseth complaints, the taxpayer-funded ads and the Omar search.
What exactly do the 2026 filings claim?
The filings share a theory: that the official, while known to the audience as a government officer, promoted or attacked a candidate. Three examples show the range.
CREW says Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, at the Miller-Meeks fundraiser, “was introduced by his official title and with reference to his work on the border”; Mullin’s office says he complies with ethics rules. Its filing about HHS chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that in a Fox News interview “he made comments in his official capacity directed at the success or failure of a partisan candidate for public office.” We found no public response from Kennedy or HHS. The Steady State’s Iowa complaint about Hegseth asks OSC to decide whether he used his office’s influence and whether government resources for the trip “were properly paid for or reimbursed,” according to The Gazette.
The Iowa complaint rests partly on travel costs. A Pentagon official told The Gazette that department staff are not involved in the details of events Hegseth attends in his personal capacity.
Which older Hatch Act complaints are still open?
CREW counts six. In an August letter, the group told OSC that it had opened probes of six senior officials and that five had been waiting more than 10 months. OSC told Government Executive that it “doesn’t comment on open cases.”
Many of those carryover complaints concern comments that Karoline Leavitt, then the White House press secretary, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made about Zohran Mamdani during his mayoral campaign, according to Government Executive. CREW also filed a complaint in August 2025 against Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, saying that on July 31 he appeared on Fox Business “in his official capacity as secretary” and urged New Yorkers to vote against Mamdani. No decision on any of them had been announced as of Oct. 28.
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What do the accused officials say?
Every department that has answered denies wrongdoing, and most say the official appeared in a personal capacity.
The Justice Department called Public Citizen’s filing against Blanche “a politically-motivated complaint designed to weaponize the Hatch Act against the Attorney General for his support of law enforcement.” The Transportation Department called the complaint against Duffy “another baseless political attack.” Interior told the Times that Burgum spoke in a personal capacity and dismissed the Alaska filing; Commerce and the FCC did not reply to the Times. Mullin’s office told the Times he obeys every ethics and conflict rule. On the ads, the White House said they are “very clearly not campaign ads.” The FBI deleted the video and did not comment to The Hill.
Which related actions are not Hatch Act complaints?
Three high-profile actions are often lumped in with these filings but run on different legal tracks.
The lawsuit over the ads, Common Cause v. DHS in federal court in Manhattan, is a challenge under appropriations law; Campaign Legal Center filed its Hatch Act complaint to OSC separately, and its case page lists an expanded temporary restraining order dated Oct. 23. The Steady State sent the Justice Department a criminal referral on Sept. 30 asking whether officials knowingly and willfully broke the law by spending public money on the ads. And DDF’s Oct. 15 letter on the FBI video was addressed jointly to three bodies: OSC, the Government Accountability Office and DOJ’s internal watchdog.
What happens to a Hatch Act complaint after it is filed?
Anyone can file one with OSC, online or on OSC Form 14. The agency can investigate, close the file, warn the employee or seek discipline.
For most federal workers, OSC prosecutes before the Merit Systems Protection Board. For Senate-confirmed appointees such as cabinet secretaries, the complaint instead “shall be presented to the President for appropriate action.” No filing on this list had reached either stage publicly as of Oct. 28, when the newest entry, CREW’s complaint against Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, was two days old.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has filed Hatch Act complaints against Trump officials?
The main filers are CREW, Democracy Defenders Fund, The Steady State, Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center and Reporters Without Borders. Each complaint is the filing group’s own allegation.
Has any Trump official been found guilty of a Hatch Act violation in 2026?
No. The Hatch Act itself carries administrative penalties, not criminal ones, and no finding had been made on any 2026 complaint as of Oct. 28, 2026. The only resolved filing, over Pete Hegseth in Kentucky, was closed with no action taken.
Where can someone lodge a Hatch Act complaint?
OSC accepts them through its online portal or on its Form 14. Anyone may file, not only federal employees.
Does OSC announce when it opens a Hatch Act investigation?
No. OSC generally does not confirm or discuss open cases. Outcomes become public when OSC releases a report, files a disciplinary complaint or the complainant shares a closure letter.
Sources
- The Trump administration’s midterms Hatch Act violation rampage — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, October 2026 (running list)
- CREW files Hatch Act complaint against Howard Lutnick — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, August 13, 2025
- ‘Glaring violations’ of the Hatch Act by senior Trump officials have gone unpunished for months, good government group alleges — Government Executive, August 21, 2026
- Attorney general violated Hatch Act ethics rules, nonprofit says — Government Executive, August 18, 2026
- Hatch Act complaints against Trump officials continue to pile up as investigations go on for nearly a year — Government Executive, September 14, 2026
- Ethics complaint asks federal office to investigate Pete Hegseth’s appearance at Zach Nunn Iowa fundraiser — The Gazette (via Mason City Globe Gazette), September 2026
- Cabinet Officials on the Campaign Trail? Ethics Experts Say Some Are Breaking the Law. — The New York Times, October 28, 2026
- Hatch Act complaint to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel regarding political television advertisements — Campaign Legal Center, October 7, 2026
- Challenging Government-Funded Propaganda and Hatch Act Violations — Campaign Legal Center, updated October 23, 2026
- Bipartisan Ethics Experts Accuse Trump Officials of Violating Federal Law in Raid on Rep. Omar’s Home — Democracy Defenders Fund, October 13, 2026
- Democracy Defenders Fund Calls for Investigation into Taxpayer-Funded FBI Video Attacking Democrats During Early Voting — Democracy Defenders Fund, October 15, 2026
- FBI post featuring El-Sayed runs afoul of Hatch Act, experts say — The Hill, October 8, 2026
- 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, October 16, 2026
- Hatch Act Complaint: Treasurer of the United States Brandon Beach; The Steady State Sends Criminal Referral to DOJ Over Taxpayer-Funded Trump Ads — The Steady State, October 17, 2026 and September 30, 2026
- Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2025 — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, May 2026
- OSC Delivers Exceptional Performance in Fiscal Year 2025 — U.S. Office of Special Counsel, December 23, 2025
- 5 U.S. Code § 1215 – Disciplinary action — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 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.