The Social Security Administration is facing mounting scrutiny after sending mass emails that explicitly praised President Donald Trump just days before the midterm elections.
Americans with online Social Security accounts received communications on Friday and Saturday featuring statements from Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who credited the president with improving the agency’s performance. In the messages, Bisignano stated that under President Trump, the agency is transforming into a model of excellence that meets and exceeds customer expectations for fast, accurate, and secure service. Bisignano concurrently serves as both Social Security commissioner and chief executive of the Internal Revenue Service.
Legal experts have questioned whether the outreach crossed federal restrictions governing political activity by government employees. The messaging and its proximity to the election have raised concerns about a potential violation of the Hatch Act, a federal statute enacted in 1939 that restricts executive branch employees from engaging in certain partisan activities in their official capacity. The law is designed to prevent government authority and resources from being utilized for partisan purposes or to influence elections.
Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, described the messages as functioning more like propaganda than standard public-service announcements. Richard W. Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, was more direct regarding the timing of the release. He noted that sending such communications immediately prior to an election to persuade voters that the administration is performing effectively is inappropriate.
While violations can lead to disciplinary sanctions ranging from reprimands and suspensions to demotions or dismissals, no formal ruling has yet established that Bisignano or the agency violated the statute over these messages. Reports indicate that at least nine of Trump’s 15 Cabinet secretaries have faced formal accusations of Hatch Act violations in recent months.
Controversy over agency communications is not unprecedented. In July, a group of Democratic senators—including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island—challenged Bisignano over a previous Social Security email that referenced President Trump six times. In their letter, the lawmakers accused the agency of spreading misleading claims about tax laws and abusing millions of email addresses collected through official portals to distribute partisan material that threatened the agency’s integrity.
In addition to the Social Security outreach, a separate IRS email also praised the administration’s economic policies, specifically citing the Working Families Tax Cuts signed into law the previous year. That message included a disclaimer stating that the agency does not generally email taxpayers directly and that the communication was intended for informational purposes only.
The central unanswered question remains whether the latest Social Security messaging will prompt a formal Hatch Act complaint or official federal investigation.
