In Pay zero , White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faces scrutiny for violating the Hatch Act, a regulation that limits political activity by federal staff. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has accused Jean-Pierre of utilizing her official capacity to affect the outcome of an election by referring to “mega MAGA Republicans” throughout press briefings earlier than the November 2022 midterm election.
Although Jean-Pierre did not explicitly instruct viewers to vote for or towards Republican candidates, the OSC determined that the timing, frequency, and content material of her references had been aimed at generating opposition to Republican candidates. In response to the ruling, Jean-Pierre said that she had been given permission to make use of the terminology by White House officials underneath President Joe Biden’s administration.
Jean-Pierre also pointed out that the earlier administration underneath former President Donald Trump had frequently used the term “MAGA Republicans,” with the archived Trump White House web site containing almost 2,000 instances of the time period to describe coverage and official agendas. She added that Congressional Republicans had been utilizing the term to check with policies and official agendas for years..