A probe found that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated federal law by using her status as a cabinet official to help President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Specifically, “Sebelius violated the Hatch Act when she made extemporaneous partisan remarks in a speech delivered in her official capacity” in February, the Office of Special Counsel said in a report Wednesday evening.
“A federal employee is permitted to make partisan remarks when speaking in their personal capacity, but not when using their official title or when speaking about agency business,” which she did not do, the report added.
The report prompted Republicans to criticize Sebelius.
“That the secretary violated federal law in this manner is disturbing, but hardly a surprise,” a spokeswoman for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told The Hill website.
The White House told the website that Sebelius’s remarks were “a mistake,” and did not hint that she would step down in the wake of the report. The report also noted that she admitted that she did make a mistake, but she claimed that her comments did not violate the Hatch Act.
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