Hatch Act Restricts Federal Workers' Political Activity After Allegations of WPA Election Interference

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Hatch Act on August 2, 1939, after Senator Carl Hatch (D-NM) introduces legislation prohibiting federal civil service employees from engaging in partisan political activities, following widespread allegations that local Democratic politicians used Works Progress Administration (WPA) employees for electoral purposes during the 1938 congressional elections. The Act forbids intimidation or bribery of voters, restricts political campaign activities by federal employees, prohibits using public relief or public works funds for electoral purposes, and bans officials paid with federal funds from using promises of jobs, promotions, contracts, or other benefits to coerce campaign contributions or political support. Roosevelt reluctantly signs the legislation on the last day possible, recognizing it as an attack on his New Deal coalition and his unsuccessful 1938 attempt to purge conservative Democrats from the party.

The Hatch Act emerges from conservative opposition to Roosevelt’s 1938 “purge” campaign, when the president unsuccessfully attempted to defeat moderate Democrats—largely from the South—who had repeatedly stymied his New Deal proposals in Congress. Roosevelt’s enemies portray the New Deal as an opportunity for the president to meddle with elections while perpetuating his hold on the White House, focusing criticism on swing states including Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Maryland where WPA employment was substantial. The legislation originally prohibits nearly all partisan activity by federal employees, banning them from endorsing candidates, distributing campaign literature, organizing political activities, and holding posts in partisan organizations.

Roosevelt struggles with how to respond to the legislation, considering vetoing it or allowing it to become law without his signature, but ultimately signs it while continuing to battle conservative Democrats increasingly aligned with Republican opponents. An amendment on July 19, 1940, extends the Act to certain state and local government employees whose positions are primarily paid for by federal funds, further restricting the political mobilization capacity of New Deal coalition workers. The Supreme Court upholds the Hatch Act’s constitutionality in United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell (1947) and United States Civil Service Commission v. National Association of Letter Carriers (1973), with the Court balancing individual free speech rights against what it describes as the “elemental need for order” and deferring to Congress’s judgment regarding political neutrality requirements for federal employees.

The Hatch Act remains largely intact until 1993, when President Clinton signs the Hatch Act Reform Amendments allowing federal workers to participate in partisan political activities during off-duty hours, though significant restrictions persist. The 1939 legislation demonstrates how conservative opponents of the New Deal can weaponize government ethics concerns to constrain progressive political mobilization, establishing precedents for restricting federal workers’ political engagement that advantage conservative forces less dependent on government employee activism. The Act’s framing as anti-corruption reform obscures its political origins as a tool to weaken Roosevelt’s coalition and limit the democratic participation of millions of Americans whose livelihoods depend on federal employment, prefiguring later efforts to restrict voting rights and political engagement through facially neutral “good government” reforms.