Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf Violates Hatch Act by Staging White House Naturalization Ceremony as RNC Campaign Content

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf presided over a naturalization ceremony in the White House Cross Hall that was orchestrated specifically to create content for the Republican National Convention, with the footage broadcast that evening as part of the RNC programming. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel later concluded that Wolf violated the Hatch Act by using his official authority for a partisan political event, with evidence showing the ceremony was “scheduled and conducted for the purpose of producing content to be used at the RNC.”

Background

On August 25, 2020, five immigrants from diverse backgrounds took their oaths of citizenship in the White House, officiated by Acting Secretary Wolf as President Trump looked on. The pre-recorded ceremony featured Trump making brief remarks before the swearing-in. At least one participant later told The Wall Street Journal she had no idea the ceremony would be used as part of the Republican National Convention’s video programming.

Government ethics expert Kathleen Clark immediately identified the violation: “We just witnessed President Trump and DHS official Chad Wolf violate a criminal Hatch Act provision that prohibits anyone employed in ‘an administrative position’ from using his official authority to affect the nomination or election of any presidential candidate.” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson urged Special Counsel Henry Kerner to investigate, writing that “Mr. Wolf’s participation appears to constitute engaging in political activity while acting in an official capacity. It also sets a bad example for the Department’s 240,000 employees who are required to comply with the Hatch Act.”

Critics denounced the transparent use of immigrants as political props in a campaign event, calling it “cynical” and “insultingly illegal.” The staging was particularly notable given Trump’s systematic anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric throughout his presidency, leading observers to characterize the ceremony as exploiting vulnerable people for partisan advantage at the precise moment they became citizens.

Significance

The OSC’s formal finding that Wolf violated the Hatch Act confirmed that senior Trump administration officials were using official government events as campaign material with complete disregard for federal ethics law. The naturalization ceremony represented a particularly egregious violation because it exploited both the solemnity of citizenship ceremonies and the immigrants themselves, who were used without their full knowledge as campaign props.

This incident was part of a systematic pattern during the 2020 RNC where the Trump administration shattered all precedent by transforming the White House and federal government operations into campaign events. The OSC’s comprehensive report eventually documented Hatch Act violations by 13 senior Trump administration officials during the convention, with the naturalization ceremony standing out as one of the most blatant examples of using official government authority for partisan political purposes.

Wolf’s violation demonstrated how the Trump administration had completely abandoned any pretense of separating official government functions from campaign activities. By staging an official DHS ceremony specifically to create RNC content, the administration treated the Department of Homeland Security and its 240,000 employees’ work as nothing more than a campaign resource to be exploited for political gain.