Navy secretary violated Hatch Act by endorsing Biden in election, watchdog finds

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro violated the Hatch Act when he endorsed President Joe Biden while abroad in January, the Office of the Special Counsel has determined.

Speaking in his official role at an event at the Royal United Services Institute in the U.K., Del Toro said, “The United States and the world need mature leadership from President Biden,” according to the OSC. Del Toro continued, “We cannot afford a president who sides with autocratic dictators and governs whose interpretation of democratic principles is suspect (at best).”

The Hatch Act is a federal law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while performing their official duties or functions.

In a later television interview with the BBC, Del Toro said he was “firmly confident” that Biden “has provided mature leadership both in the United States and in stabilizing our economy, which faced many challenges early on in his term.”

Del Toro continued by asking whether former President Donald Trump “has upheld the core values ​​of our country, protecting the freedoms of Americans and people around the world, and protecting democracy itself. And when you have someone who doesn’t share those core principles, you wonder if you should support that person?”

In a letter to the president, special counsel Hampton Dellinger wrote that Del Toro “unacceptably expressed his personal political views in the course of official agency business.”

However, in a response to the OSC, Del Toro’s lawyer argued that the secretary’s comments were “spontaneous and ill-considered” and directed at a limited American audience, and therefore did not violate the Hatch Act.

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent organization within the federal government charged with, among other things, enforcing the Hatch Act and investigating alleged violations.

CNN has reached out to the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of the Navy for comment.

From the beginning of the Biden administration, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made clear the importance of keeping the military out of politics. At one of his first press conferences, Austin said, “It’s really important to me that this department remains apolitical. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that our military, our leadership—both civilian and military—stays focused on the task at hand and understands that they’re not part of the political apparatus there.”

Asked about the OSC’s findings, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh stressed the importance of keeping the military out of politics. At a news conference Thursday, Singh said it was important to “maintain the trust and confidence of the American people, which requires us to avoid any actions that could suggest support for any political party, candidate or campaign.”

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