White House advisor Neera Tanden faces Hatch Act complaint over tweets

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden broke the rules when she tweeted requests for political contributions on social media, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said in unveiling a complaint filed Wednesday.

“Congress created a rule banning all federal employees from fundraising for political candidates,” Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger said in a release sent to NPR. “The Hatch Act contains no escape hatch for White House officials.”

In the complaint, the office asked the Merit Systems Protection Board to take disciplinary action against Tanden. If the board agrees, the potential penalty would range from Tanden serving a 30-day suspension without pay, to being removed from her post.

The OSC says it told Tanden on Aug. 30 that a message on her X account violated the Hatch Act’s rules because it sought political contributions for candidates running for Congress. She responded by removing it — but, the office adds, “less than one week later, Tanden again solicited political contributions and continued to do so throughout September.”

Tanden has maintained two accounts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, including one she created in 2021, the year she joined President Biden’s administration. The OSC says the posts in question were made to her personal account, which has more than 360,000 followers.

The formal complaint against Tanden cites seven tweets in which she posted or reposted messages related to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and Democratic candidates for Senate and House seats.

“Certain senior White House employees, including Tanden, are exempt from some of the Hatch Act’s prohibitions,” the OSC states in its complaint. “However, all employees — including senior White House employees — are at all times prohibited from soliciting political contributions to political parties or candidates for partisan political office.”

Biden originally nominated Tanden in 2021 to lead the Office of Management and Budget, but she withdrew her nomination after members of Congress — including Sen. Joe Manchin, then-D-W.V. — said they wouldn’t vote to confirm her. A main sticking point: Tanden had made scathing criticisms of lawmakers when she led the Center for American Progress, an economic think tank.

Tanden is now the director of the Domestic Policy Council, a body that aims to bring “greater dignity, equity, opportunity, and prosperity to the everyday lives of Americans.”

In recent months, Tanden has unveiled consumer-oriented initiatives such as a push for companies to improve customer service experiences for Americans and another requiring private health insurance companies to cover mental health and addiction care.