{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-urges-special-counsel-to-complete-hatch-act-investigation-into-trump-administrations-partisan-redistricting-push/", "Padilla Urges Special Counsel to Complete Hatch Act Investigation Into Trump Administration\u2019s Partisan Redistricting Push", "2025-12-09", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Padilla highlights new violations of federal records laws in Republican redistricting pushes, including in Indiana\n\nIndiana State Senator on White House redistricting push: \u201c[T]he underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime. \u2026 That\u2019s a violation of the Hatch Act. He\u2019s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California\u2019s former Secretary of State, urged the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to move forward with its investigation into Hatch Act violations committed by senior Trump Administration officials at the White House and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) who have repeatedly pressured states to redistrict for partisan gain. The follow-up letter to his July inquiry calling for a Hatch Act investigation provides new evidence of White House officials violating the Hatch Act by pressuring Republican-states\u2019 legislators and governors\u2019 offices to pass additional partisan gerrymandering for their own partisan benefit, including in Indiana and Texas.\n\nPadilla also highlighted evidence that White House officials are illegally using encrypted, private messaging services like Signal that automatically delete conversations in their partisan redistricting pressure campaign, violating federal records laws, and demanded that the OSC and the White House Counsel take immediate corrective action.\n\nIt is illegal under the Hatch Act for executive branch officials to use their public office to advance partisan political activities, which could include a partisan mid-cycle redistricting effort to advantage a political party. In response to Padilla\u2019s previous letter that outlined Hatch Act violations in Texas and other Republican-led states, the Hatch Act Unit at the OSC confirmed in July they would open a file to address this potential violation. However, despite mounting evidence of additional violations, the OSC has yet to provide an update. Trump previously fired the Senate-confirmed OSC Special Counsel in February.\n\n\u201cThroughout the year, White House senior officials and others in the Trump Administration have been clearly and openly engaged in a political campaign to gain seats for the Republican Party in Congress via a rare and controversial mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and many other states,\u201d wrote Senator Padilla. \u201cSuch efforts appear to violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits political activity, including \u2018activity directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYour offices have a duty to act, not only to ensure that Administration officials follow the law, but to protect these public servants across the country from bearing the brunt of this apparently illegal activity in the current heighted political threat environment,\u201d continued Senator Padilla.\n\nShortly after the OSC confirmed their investigation, President Trump told CNBC on August 5 that \u201cwe are entitled to five more seats,\u201d referring to Republican Congressional districts in Texas. The Administration has also enacted an extreme partisan effort to pressure Indiana state legislators to redraw the Congressional map in favor of Republicans. Since then, at least 11 Indiana Republican elected officials have faced bomb and \u201cswatting\u201d threats. A Republican Indiana State Senator has refused White House staff\u2019s requests to meet, publicly stating that their pressure campaign violates the Hatch Act, saying:\n\n\u201c[T]he underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime. That individual works for me. He works for you. He\u2019s on my payroll, he\u2019s on your payroll, and he\u2019s campaigning on company time. That\u2019s a violation of the Hatch Act. He\u2019s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.\u201d\n\nSenator Padilla and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) are leading the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025 to establish independent redistricting commissions nationwide and neutralize Republican efforts to implement partisan racial gerrymanders before the next census. In July, Padilla convened a Rules and Judiciary Committee Democrats spotlight forum focused on racial gerrymandering and voter suppression. During the forum, he questioned former Attorney General Eric Holder on the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts in Texas and other states to implement mid-decade racial redistricting for partisan political purposes.\n\nFull text of the letter is available here and below:\n\nDear Mr. Baldis and Warrington:\n\nOn July 29, 2025, four U.S. Senators wrote to request U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) investigate senior White House and Trump Administration officials for potential violations of the Hatch Act by engaging in partisan political activities while on official duty in the pursuit of mid-decade redistricting in various states across the country. On July 30, OSC confirmed receipt of the letter and informed my staff that they have opened a case file regarding these allegations. Today, I request an update on the status of that investigation and also bring attention to new potential violations of federal records laws associated with this partisan political effort.\n\nSince that letter of July 29, there has been a steady stream of new evidence of ongoing engagement by senior White House staff in partisan political activities related to redistricting. The situation has escalated to such a level that the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of White House Counsel must take immediate action to ensure that senior Trump Administration officials cease this apparently illegal behavior.\n\nOn August 5, 2025, President Trump stated that \u201cwe are entitled to 5 more seats\u201d regarding Republican congressional districts in Texas. Throughout the year, White House senior officials and others in the Trump Administration have been clearly and openly engaged in a political campaign to gain seats for the Republican Party in Congress via a rare and controversial mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and many other states. Such efforts appear to violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits political activity, including \u201cactivity directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.\u201d\n\nIn Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation responded to partisan requests and involved itself in mid-decade redistricting by participating in searching for Texas legislators who were not attending state legislative proceedings. In Indiana, the Administration is currently engaging in an extreme political pressure campaign targeting state legislators, which is associated with a rash of bomb and \u201cswatting\u201d threats against state elected officials.\n\nThe situation in Indiana is urgent and the credibility of the OSC is at stake. One state senator is publicly refusing to meet with White House staff because he understands that the effort is a violation of the Hatch Act. The State Senator stated:\n\n\u201cI refused (the invitation), but the underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime. That individual works for me. He works for you. He\u2019s on my payroll, he\u2019s on your payroll, and he\u2019s campaigning on company time. That\u2019s a violation of the Hatch Act. He\u2019s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.\u201d\n\nThis state legislator said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities if he thought that there \u201cwas anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation.\u201d Your offices have a duty to act, not only to ensure that Administration officials follow the law, but to protect these public servants across the country from bearing the brunt of this apparently illegal activity in the current heighted political threat environment.\n\nIn February, President Trump fired the last Director of the Office of Special Counsel, despite him being confirmed by the Senate in 2024 to serve a 5-year term to lead this independent office in a non-partisan way. In June, President Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia, an unfit and unqualified political loyalist, to that position. The Senate rejected that attempt on a bipartisan basis, highlighting the importance of this office\u2019s mission and its independence. OSC should heed this message and act to ensure senior Trump officials follow the Hatch Act.\n\nIn addition, strong evidence shows that White House staff are engaging in these apparently unlawful partisan activities using official communications in violation of federal records laws. A Texas Republican political operative provided sworn testimony in federal court that the White House staff communicated about redistricting with state officials via the encrypted messaging application Signal, which can be set to automatically delete messages. A failure to preserve federal records and a failure to report the unlawful destruction of these records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are serious violations of law.\n\nIt is likely that Trump Administration staff are replicating these unlawful political activities, using unlawful means of communication, in many other states across the country, including Missouri, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas and more. OSC and White House leadership should not tolerate or encourage repeated, blatant violations of the Hatch Act and federal records laws in pursuit of this unprecedented mid-decade redistricting campaign.\n\nThank you for your attention to these potential violations of federal law in pursuit of partisan mid-decade redistricting. Please respond by December 15, 2025, with an update on OSC\u2019s investigation and any corrective action that the White House is taking regarding the Hatch Act and the Presidential Records Act.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-urges-special-counsel-to-complete-hatch-act-investigation-into-trump-administrations-partisan-redistricting-push/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7874141447246075, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}