Does New White House Position “Director of Progressive Media & Online Response” Violate The Hatch Act?

The article today from Sam Stein at the Huffington Post regarding the Obama administration’s creation of a new position titled ” Director of Progressive Media & Online Response” has raised some concern over whether the position violates the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act restricts the political activities of some federal, state and local employees.

According to Stein, who discloses that he is a personal friend of the appointee, Jesse Lee, the new director position was created ”for helping coordinate rapid response to unfavorable stories and fostering and improving relations with the progressive online community.” I posted about it here.

Below are the federal employees who are covered by the Hatch Act according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel

For purposes of the Hatch Act, the term federal “employee” means any individual, other than the President and the Vice President, employed or holding office in one of the following: 1) an Executive agency other than the General Accounting Office; 2) a position within the competitive service which is not an executive agency; or 3) the government of the District of Columbia, other than the Mayor, City Council members, or the Recorder of Deeds. Additionally, under the Hatch Act the term federal employee does not include a member of the uniformed services.

According to About.com.US politics, these federal employees may not:
use official authority or influence to interfere with an election
solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business before their agency
solicit or receive political contributions (may be done in certain limited situations by federal labor or other employee organizations)
be candidates for public office in partisan elections
engage in political activity while:
on duty
in a government office
wearing an official uniform
using a government vehicle
wear partisan political buttons on duty

Since the position is new and the public does not yet know exactly what the activities of the new Director of Progressive Media & Online Response will be, we need to be vigilant that any suspected violation is reported.

I am not a lawyer and am not sure how this will play out, but I think the creation of this position, especially as it coincides with the 2012 re-election campaign requires further investigation.