The Social Security Administration (SSA) is facing scrutiny after sending a mass email praising President Donald Trump just days before the midterm elections. On Friday and Saturday, Americans with online Social Security accounts received emails in which Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano explicitly credited Trump with improving the agency. "Under President Donald J.
Trump, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is transforming into a model of excellence, one that meets and exceeds customer expectations for fast, accurate, and secure service," Bisignano said in the email. Legal experts are questioning whether the message crossed federal restrictions on political activity by government employees. The email’s political praise of Trump as well as its proximity to the election have raised questions regarding a potential violation of the Hatch Act, a federal law restricting certain partisan political activity by executive branch employees.
Newsweek reached out to the SSA for comment via email. The SSA oversees benefits relied upon by tens of millions of retirees, people with disabilities and their families. The email controversy comes immediately before voters head to the polls in consequential midterm elections and follows earlier criticism from Democratic members of Congress over SSA emails lauding Trump.
The Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, restricts federal employees from engaging in certain political activities in their official capacity and is intended to prevent government authority and resources from being used for partisan purposes. The October 30 and 31 email was sent under Bisignano's name and praised the agency's performance specifically "under President Donald J. Trump," describing SSA as "transforming into a model of excellence." Bisignano is simultaneously serving as SSA commissioner and chief executive of the IRS.
A separate IRS email also praised Trump's economic policies. "Last year, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts, landmark legislation that ushered in a new era of tax relief and prevented the largest tax increase in American history from taking effect," Bisignano wrote in that message.
"Hardworking Americans like you are keeping more of what they earn because of President Trump's historic tax cuts." The IRS email included a disclaimer saying that the agency "does not generally send e-mails to taxpayers" and that the message was "for informational purposes and does not constitute a communication about a taxpayer's specific situation." Several legal experts have raised precisely that question, although there has been no official ruling that Bisignano or SSA violated the law over this message. Kathleen Clark, law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told The New York Times that the emails appeared to function as "propaganda" rather than public-service announcements.
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